Dark Foreigner
by jaina-lotr
Summary: There is more to Daniel's past than SG-1 knows. When a mysterious symbol is found on the body of a dead Marine, SG-1 must team up with NCIS to get to the bottom of the case. At the same time Daniel's past is about to collide with the present. NCIS cross.
1. Prologue

**author's note:** okay here is a small taste of the NCIS crossover. This is being witten from the stargate side of things. So in order to get the whole thing from both perspectives you will need to read Dark Angel, which is the compainion story to this one. It's being written by my sister and is from the NCIS side. This is basically a trial run to see what kind of response this story gets. I mean I'll continue with it regardless, but getting a good reponse may just make me write it faster. Maybe. We'll see. Just a warning, the updates for this will be slow, mainly because me and my sister have to have them in sync. The first few chapters though will only feature SG-1 so that the back story and what not can be established. Okay, I think I've pretty much covered everything. Please let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy!

**disclaimer:** I don't own any part of SG-1 or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Prologue**

A tall young man with piercing blue eyes and brown hair stood nervously in front of a large mahogany desk. The older man behind the desk studied him. He really didn't want to do what he was about to, but he had no choice. It was an unstated rule that a commanding officer not get too close to those under their command. But, the young man in front of him, and one of the other operatives, had become like sons to him.

"Dan-," the older man began, and then stopped. He cleared his throat and began again, this time emphasizing the young man's alias, "Ajnabi, as you are probably aware a number of the lower level operatives have been compromised. Because of this, we have been looking into the possibility of a mole. We had assigned Swordfish to that job. Unfortunately, his body was found this morning. So, we are taking steps to protect our assets."

"How?" Was all the young man asked.

"We are sending all of our top operatives into hiding-,"

"What?! No," the young man said, cutting him off. "Sir-," he stopped when he saw the look on the older man's face. "How long?" He asked instead.

"Indefinitely."

"Yes, sir."

He could tell by the tone of the young man's voice that he wasn't happy about this.

"You will be sent to Colorado. We understand that there is a military operation there looking for someone with your talents."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, you may go."

The young man turned to leave, but stopped as he reached the door. "Sir, if I may, what about Dark Angel?"

"He will be taken care of. Now, go, there is a plane waiting for you."

The young man nodded and then left.

"Dear God, please don't let anything happen to him," the older man muttered. Although, knowing Ajnabi, praying was all he could do since trouble seemed to follow him everywhere.


	2. Chapter 1

**author's note: **okay, here's the next chapter. Again, I warn you that once it gets past the part with just SG-1 the updates will come slowly, but hopefully not too slowly. Um, anyway, I think that's all I really have to say, so read and review please, and enjoy!

**disclaimer: **I do not own any part of NCIS or SG-1.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 1**

7 years later. . .

"Daniel, let's go," Jack O'Neill called to the archeologist.

"But, Jack-,"

"Ah. Don't even start," Jack said cutting the younger man off. "I'm pretty sure Hammond might agree to letting you come back, but he's never going to know about. . . this," he gestured to indicate the ruins in which they stood, "unless we go back and tell him."

Daniel stood there for a minute looking torn. Then he nodded and sighed, "Okay, I'm coming."

"Good."

Once back on Earth and after being cleared by Dr. Fraiser, SG-1 sat in the briefing room waiting for General Hammond. They didn't have to wait long.

"As you were," the general said noticing Jack and Sam in the process of standing when he walked into the room a file in his hand. He took his seat at the head of the table and turning to face Jack said, "I take it your mission was successful, Colonel."

"As successful as it can be, sir," Jack replied. "The intel we received seems to have been correct, for once. The planet was uninhabited and Daniel was in heaven in the ruins."

"Dr. Jackson, what can you tell me about the ruins?" Hammond asked turning to look at the younger man, a slight smile on his face.

"Well, sir the ruins appear to be Ancient. I didn't really have the chance to study them that well, but from what I was able to translate I think it may talk about, well, I wouldn't really call it a weapon, but it was technology of some sort. And that is why I would like to request that I be allowed to go back with a team."

"Request denied."

"What?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Jackson, but a situation has come up that we need your expertise on. A team will be sent back, but you won't be accompanying them."

"Yes, sir," Daniel replied obviously not happy with the General's decision."

"What's the situation, sir?" Jack asked.

"The program Major Carter set up a couple of years ago to detect when other government agencies were researching anything that is not recognizable by the data bases has finally gotten a hit."

"Really, sir?" Sam asked, leaning forward slightly.

Hammond nodded and then launched into the explanation. "Apparently, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service recovered a dead body recently."

"What's so strange about that, sir," Jack interrupted. "Isn't that what they do?"

"Yes, but this body had a symbol drawn on the right ankle that no one has been able to decipher."

"What was the symbol?" Daniel asked.

"This is what it looked like," Hammond answered pulling a photo out of the file in front of him. He then passed it to Daniel.

The instant Daniel saw the symbol he recognized it, but luckily his training kept his surprise from showing. The symbol was a pair of black wings with a halo over them. Daniel's first thought was that Dark Angel was back in the game, that was until what Hammond said finally registered.

"You said this was found on the right ankle?" He asked looking up.

"Yes," Hammond answered.

"Do you recognize the symbol, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"No, I've never seen it before, but it looks like it could be Mayan in origin," Daniel replied once again thankful that he had been trained to lie convincingly. He could tell that they all believed him, even Jack.

"Do what you need to Doctor, to get that figured out. We need to find out of that symbol is in any way connected to the stargate. In the meantime, SG-1 will be on stand-down, dismissed," Hammond ordered. He then got up and walked to his office.

"I'll go get started on this," Daniel said as he stood to leave.

"You do that," Jack said, and then he turned toward the rest of his team and asked, "Teal'c you wanna spar?"

The jaffa only inclined his head. Then the two of them got up and followed Daniel out of the room leaving Sam alone.

"I guess I'll go find something to do," she said to the empty room before leaving as well.


	3. Chapter 2

author's note: okay, so here is the next chapter. um, thanks for all of the reviews, i honestly hope you continue to enjoy this story. um, i think that's all i really have to say for now, so please read and review and enjoy!

disclaimer: I do not own any part of NCIS or SG-1.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 2**

"Hey Daniel, how's it going?" Jack asked walking into the archeologist's office.

"It's not," Daniel replied.

"What do you mean by 'it's not'?"

"I mean that I haven't gotten anywhere with this . . . thing."

"Okay," Jack said. He really had no idea what to say to his friend so he decided to wing it. "Well, it's only been a couple of days, so give it some time. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Daniel gave him the 'yeah right' look. Okay so maybe he should try a different tactic.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Daniel gave him another look, this time it was the 'are you crazy' look. Then Daniel leaned forward.

"Actually, you might be able to help," Daniel said almost sounding excited.

"Really? How?"

"Well, I'm not finding anything remotely similar to this symbol," Daniel began.

"And how do you expect me to help with that?" Jack asked confused.

"Well, I don't know. NCIS is investigating this right?"

"Yeah. Daniel, where are you going with this?"

"Would it be possible to get all of their information?"

"Let me get this straight, you want me to get you whatever NCIS has happened to find out about this symbol?"

"Yes. Can you do it?"

"I don't know, Daniel. Is there any other way to figure this thing out?"

"This is the only way I can think of, well, except for actually working with NCIS."

"And that would be out of the question."

"Which is why I didn't suggest it."

"Okay, well, let me talk to Hammond, see what he thinks and then I'll let you know."

"Okay."

Two hours went by and there was still no sign of Jack. Daniel got back to making it look like he was researching the symbol. He had been at it for about ten minutes when Jack finally walked in.

"So?" Daniel asked his friend.

"Well, Hammond said no about getting the information," Jack held up a hand when Daniel opened his mouth to protest, "but I hope you can spare a few days because we're heading to Washington."

"You mean. . ."

"We're teaming up with NCIS. So, go get packing, Hammond's got a plane waiting."

A couple hours later, SG-1 was on a plane bound for Washington, DC and NCIS headquarters.


	4. Chapter 3

author's note: okay, so here's the last chapter of just SG-1. After this, at least for my side, will crossover with NCIS. But, as I have warned you before, the updates will be coming a little slower. My sister still has to catch up with the NCIS bit, but then again she does have the whole backstory for the murder and everything to cover. Once she gets to the part where SG-1 shows up, then, hopefully, the updates will come at regular intervals. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think of it. I don't know when I will have the next chapter up, but hopefully it won't be too long from now. So, um, yeah, I think that's it, so, enjoy!

disclaimer: I do not own any part of NCIS or SG-1.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 3**

"Here," Jack said handing Daniel a folder as soon as the plane had taken off.

"What's this?" Daniel asked looking at the folder in confusion.

"Info on the team we'll be working with."

"Oh, okay."

"The team is led by Special Agent Gibbs," Sam said already looking through the files.

"Agent David seems intriguing," Teal'c said.

"Why?" Jack asked before flipping to the file in question. "Oh, well, that explains your fascination."

"What does?" Daniel asked.

"She's Mossad."

"Ah."

"Looks like you'll get along great with McGee, Carter," Jack said.

"Why do you say that, sir?" Sam asked looking up.

"Well, he's a computer geek and . . ." Jack trailed off when he noticed Sam's raised eyebrow and not quite glare. "Never mind."

Turning her attention back to the files, Sam said, "The last member of the team is Agent DiNozzo."

"DiNozzo?" Daniel asked looking up.

"Uh, yeah, Anthony DiNozzo," Sam replied.

Seeing the look on Daniel's face Jack asked, "Do you know him?"

Daniel had flipped to DiNozzo's file, quickly scanning it before a smile slowly made its way across his face.

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"Huh?"

"I take it you know this Doritos guy."

Daniel frowned briefly before he figured out what Jack was asking, he then replied, "Yeah, I know him."

"How?" Sam asked.

"We pretty much grew up together. I never thought I'd see him again, though."

"Oh."

No one really knew what else to ask so they just went back to reading over the files. The rest of the plane ride was made in relative silence.

Daniel sat there thinking. It had been over seven years since he had seen Tony and now he was going to be working with him . . . again. It was kind of ironic that the reason behind their reunion was the symbol. But, Daniel knew that he and Tony would be able to figure this thing out. They always did.


	5. Chapter 4

author's note: Yay! It's the next chapter. SG-1 and NCIS finally meet!! Whoo hoo!! Oh man, I am such a dork. Sorry about that. Anyway, so here's the next chapter. Hopefully the next one will be coming soon. Don't know yet, but we'll see. So, I don't really know what to say about this chapter except that, I know it's lacking in the detail department, but I'll work on that. I'll also have to work on length, cuz my gosh, I can't seem to write a 1,000 word chapter to save my life! Anyway, yeah. So, please feel free to let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

disclaimer: I do not own any part of SG-1 or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 4**

When SG-1 arrived at NCIS there was an Agent Donovan waiting for them. The young agent led them into the building, through the security checkpoints, and then to the elevator. The elevator ride was relatively short, especially when compared to the SGC. Finally, they reached the floor that housed the "bullpen" as Donovan called it.

"Excuse me, Agent Gibbs, this is the team from the Air Force," Donovan said to a tall man with gray hair, blue eyes, and a cup of coffee in hand. Gibbs nodded to Donovan and then the young man left.

Jack, seeing that Daniel was practically staring at the coffee, began the introductions.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, two l's, and this is my team, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c."

"Special Agent Gibbs," Gibbs replied, then motioning to the other two in the room, "Special Agents McGee and David."

McGee, Jack noticed, was standing next to a desk that looked like it could belong in Carter's lab. The man himself, well, Jack would definitely peg him as a geek.

David, on the other hand, was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, studying the four of them. 'Probably threat assessing,' Jack thought to himself. Although, he could have sworn that her gaze lingered on Daniel.

The fourth member was suspiciously absent.

Jack opened his mouth to say something else when a phone began ringing.

Gibbs walked over to, what Jack assumed, was his desk and picked up the phone. After a couple of minutes he said, "Abby, get to the point," there was another pause as he listened to what Abby was saying, then said, "Alright, we're on our way." He turned back to the group and said, "Abby's got something," then he began walking toward the elevator.

"You're supposed to follow," McGee said motioning toward the elevator.

"I thought only you did that," Jack said to Daniel as the group started after Gibbs. Daniel just shot him a look.

They all piled into the elevator. It looked, to Jack, as if Ziva was standing a little closer to Daniel than was strictly necessary, although Daniel was completely oblivious.

It wasn't long before they were greeted by loud music as the elevator doors opened. As they stepped into the slightly darkened lab a young woman, her black pig tails bouncing, came rushing up to them excitedly.

"What's up, Boss Man," she said to Gibbs, and then noticing SG-1 said, "Ooh, visitors."

Just as Gibbs was about to reply, a young man dressed in a perfectly tailored black Armani suit walked out of a back room. 'This must be DiNozzo,' Jack thought.

"Boss," DiNozzo began, "I have a perfectly good reas . . . Hello, I don't believe we've met," his train of thought had, apparently, shifted directions when he saw Sam.

Jack noticed Daniel just shaking his head. He also thought he heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'some things never change.'

Just as Jack was about to say something to, hopefully distract DiNozzo from flirting with his 2IC, Daniel beat him to it.

"Hey, Tad, aren't you the least bit excited to see me?"


	6. Chapter 5

author's note: So, here's the next chapter and looky there it's a long one. Or, at least long for me. But, I don't think there's anything too pressing that I need to say about this chapter. The only thing I can really think of is please read and review and I hope you enjoy. Hopefully the next chapter willl be coming soon. We'll see :)

disclaimer: I don't own any part of NCIS or Stargate SG-1.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner **

**Chapter 5**

_Previously on:_

"_Hey Tad, aren't you the least bit excited to see me?"_

* * *

"Daniel?" Tony asked slowly turning to face him.

Daniel tried not to cringe. Tony had always hated that nickname. So, he just grinned at him, but the punch he was expecting never came.

"Surprised to see me?" He asked his grin growing into a full fledged smile.

"I haven't seen you in seven years," Tony said walking over and pulling Daniel into a brotherly hug.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel replied returning the hug.

"And what have I told you about calling me that?" Tony asked pulling back and punching him in the arm. Yep, he knew it was coming. Although, Daniel tried not to laugh at the shocked surprise that flashed across his friends face. "You've been working out."

"Maybe," he replied shrugging.

Daniel noticed the looks on the others faces. McGee and Ziva looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The goth, who he guessed was Abby, was looking back and forth between him and Tony, pigtails swinging with each turn of her head.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs barked making Daniel almost jump.

"Right, Boss, sorry," Tony said turning to face Gibbs, and then turning to Abby, "Sorry to you too, Abs. I think you had something to tell us?"

"You two know each other?" Ziva asked. Daniel had been wondering when someone was going to ask that.

"Later," Gibbs said cutting off whatever questions were bound to follow. "Abby, what have you got?"

Daniel was beginning to think that Gibbs' temper was as short as Jack's on a good day. And that wasn't very long.

Abby spun around and launched into a long explanation about this and that. Daniel's attention was pulled away when he felt Jack tugging on his sleeve.

"They don't know about . . . ya know," Jack said quietly gesturing between him and Tony.

"Uh, no, I don't think they do," Daniel replied just as quietly.

Daniel tuned back into Abby's explanation just in time to hear the end.

"So, in the end, after a lot of long searching, I, or I should say we," she said pointing at herself and then McGee, "have identified the mark. McGee."

McGee took that as his cue, stepping forward and typing quickly. In seconds he had the symbol up on the screen. Alongside the symbol was some basic information. Everything, gender, date of birth, and what not were listed as unknown. But, there was a name.

"Dark Angel," Ziva said in a tone that clearly stated she recognized the symbol. "I thought there was something familiar about it."

Everyone else turned to look at her, but Daniel looked over at Tony, who was looking back at him. Daniel was sure that the look on Tony's face was mirrored on his own, one that clearly said 'oh crap.' Daniel quickly schooled his features into a mask of surprised confusion to go along with the others as they looked at Ziva. He noticed Tony doing the same as they turned to face the rest of the group.

"Ziva," Gibbs said breaking the stunned silence that seemed to have settled over them, "what can you tell me?"

"Well, I do not know that much. There is not a lot known about Dark Angel. I am fairly certain that he is a he. Obviously, Dark Angel is a code name of sorts and that is his mark," Ziva explained.

"If he desires to remain unknown why leave a mark that could expose his identity?" Teal'c asked one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Calling card," Jack said.

Teal'c's eyebrow went up another notch indication his confusion.

"A calling card is a symbol that a person would leave, uh, Jack you're Black Ops, you know more about this stuff than I do," Daniel said trying to explain.

Tony shot Daniel a slightly amused glance that clearly said, 'riiiiight.'

"It is the mark of an assassin," Ziva said sounding slightly exasperated, most likely due to the banter.

"Crap!" Tony said suddenly causing everyone to turn and look at him. "Uh, I just remembered, I may have left my coffee maker on."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. Tony didn't drink coffee, at least not real coffee.

"You don't even drink coffee," McGee said.

"I left my toaster on," Tony hedged.

"Your toaster, Tony?" Abby asked skeptically.

"Fine, I left my TV on?"

"DiNozzo, if it's not pertinent to the case, I don't want to hear about it," Gibbs said putting an end to the debate over Tony's horrible attempts at an excuse for his outburst.

"Got it, Boss," Tony replied.

Daniel noticed the furtive glance his friend shot him. That only heightened his amusement. As soon as Tony saw his amused smirk a slight scowl crossed his face.

"So, how about we blow this popsicle stand and get down to business," Jack said earning himself several strange looks.

Daniel just shook his head. 'How am I friends with him,' he thought to himself. Then he glanced at Tony. 'Never mind.'

"Abs, let us know when you have something else. Bullpen," Gibbs stated heading for the door. "Now."

* * *

Back in the Bullpen.

As they stepped out of the elevator Gibbs and his team each headed for their respective desks. SG-1 came to a stop in the middle of them.

"So, what now?" Jack asked looking around.

"Gibbs, perhaps it would be best if one of us worked with one of them," Ziva suggested.

Daniel stood up a little straighter a plan forming in his mind. He shot a hopeful look in Gibbs' direction, but the other man was too busy to notice.

"I suppose," Gibbs replied, and then he turned to Jack. "How do you want to do this?"

"Ooh, dibs on Tony," Daniel said a little too excitedly if the looks he was getting was anything to go by.

"Daniel?" Jack asked trying not to laugh at the younger man's enthusiasm.

"What? I haven't seen Tony in seven years," Daniel replied.

"Dibs? You're still calling dibs on me? Have you not grown up in the last seven years?" Tony asked smiling.

"Obviously not," Jack muttered. Daniel glared at him.

"Well, it will give us a chance to catch up," Daniel said turning his attention to Tony and giving him a pointed look.

"Can we get back to business?" Gibbs asked. "DiNozzo, work with Jackson. Ziva, Teal'c. McGee, Carter. I suppose that means we work together, O'Neill."

The teams split into their designated pairs and got to work. Jack kept fiddling around with the stuff on Gibbs' desk, the owner of which kept glaring at him.

McGee and Sam were so engrossed in whatever was on the computer screen that they were completely oblivious as to what anyone else was doing.

Ziva kept alternating between trying to work and shooting glares at Tony. If he and Daniel were actually working she would be very surprised, especially if the laughter coming from the two of them was anything to go by. Teal'c just raised his eyebrow.

Daniel and Tony were too busy laughing at some video on the computer to notice what was going on around them.

"DiNozzo, work if you expect to go home today," Gibbs barked.

"Gotcha, Boss," Tony said as he and Daniel finally got to work, although, they still laughed occasionally. Then, finally, Gibbs released them to go.


	7. Chapter 6

author's note: Yay! It's another chapter. And it's kinda long. I hope you like this chapter. it is mainly Daniel and Tony catching up. Although, they can't exactly cover 7 years in one night, so there may just be more chapters kinda along the lines of this one. Um, I don't think there's really anything to warn you about, so I guess that's it. The next chapter will come when it comes, hopefully it won't be too long a wait. So, I hope you enjoy the latest installment of the story and don't forget to let me know what you think!

disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner **

**Chapter 6**

DiNozzo's Apartment.

"Man, I thought we were never going to get to leave," Tony said as he pulled his classic Mustang into a spot at his apartment building.

"Well, if you hadn't been so intent on showing me those videos we probably could have left sooner," Daniel replied as he and Tony climbed out of the car and began walking toward the building.

"Hey, those videos were funny. You can't deny that they weren't," Tony said as they stepped onto the elevator, he hit the button for to take them to the correct floor.

"I'm not saying they weren't. It's just . . ." Daniel trailed off shrugging.

"It's just what?" Tony asked as they reached his door.

"Is Gibbs psychic or something? I mean, he never even looked up and he knew we weren't working. It was rather . . . unsettling."

"That's Gibbs for you. Anyway, not sure about the psychic part, but what I can say, he knows me only too well. Although, we did get out of there earlier today," Tony replied picking up his phone, "What do you want on your pizza?"

"Chicken and pineapple."

"Yeah, I need one with chicken and pineapple," Tony said into the phone, "and of course my usual. Okay, thanks Marty."

"So, NCIS?" Daniel asked after Tony had hung up.

"So, consultant for the Air Force?"

"It's a job," Daniel shrugged again.

"So is mine."

"Yes, I imagine it is. But, it is kind of ironic that you catch killers now instead of . . . ya know."

"Not by choice," Tony answered just as the doorbell rang. "Hold that thought."

Tony headed over to the door to pay for the pizza. Daniel could hear him having a quiet conversation with the delivery boy, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

After a couple of minutes Tony came back with the pizza, set them on the counter, and then grabbed a couple beers out of the fridge and placed them next to the pizza.

"You were saying," Tony said his mouth full of pizza.

"Actually, you were saying," Daniel responded helping himself to the pizza.

"Not much more to it than 'not by choice.'"

"Yeah, I know. I really didn't like being sent off like that."

"Neither did I. So, how's life with the ex-black ops guy as your boss? Because we both know you and authority have never gotten along well," Tony asked taking a swig of beer and then going for more pizza.

"Well, it took a while for Jack to get used to me, but we get along . . . for the most part."

"That's good. Too bad you can't tell me what you really do."

"Yeah, well." Daniel just shrugged slightly. "Like I said, it's a job."

"At least you get to work with languages," Tony responded.

"Yes, I do. But, you can't tell me you don't like your job, because I know you do."

"I do now, at least. Not at first, though."

"Not at first? What didn't you like?"

"Let's see, besides being told to go into hiding, taking a job I didn't want when I was perfectly happy with the job I had. Oh, and let's not forget being away from friends and family and not being able to contact anyone, Tony ranted. "And my absolute favorite thing of all, having to pretend to be someone I'm not. You know what the funny part is? When you pretend long enough it starts to become real."

"I, uh, I don't know what to say," Daniel said surprised at Tony's outburst.

"Well, after seven years, I guess you just get used to it. It's not so bad anymore, I accepted the fact that this is who I am years ago, Tony replied motioning to indicate the apartment which represented who he had to become.

"Yeah, it was rather hard in the beginning," Daniel said, sighing as he thought about his own life.

"Well, the past is the past, and other than that, what have you been up to?" Tony asked cleaning up their dinner. "Well, that you can tell me?"

"As unbelievable as it may sound, the past seven years hasn't been all peaches and crème for me either. For one, I actually got married."

"What! You're just now telling me this. What's her name? What does she look like? Can I meet her?"

"Uh, yes I'm just now telling you, her name was Sha're, I have a picture, not with me though, and that would be a little difficult," Daniel replied answering every question.

"Why would it be difficult to meet her, wait you said was. Does that mean what I think it means?" Tony questioned with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah, she died a few years ago," Daniel said, sadness creeping into his voice as well.

"I'm sorry about that. We lost a team member a few years back. That his us all pretty hard."

"Losing someone you care about can do that to you. Anyway, enough sad stuff. So, what else do you want to know?"

"I guess whatever you're allowed to tell me."

"Well, there's got to be something specific that you want to know."

"Okay, what exactly do you do for the Air Force?"

"Translations."

"Translations? That's it? No Hour long explanation about it?"

"Oh, I could give you the hour long explanation, but then I' either have to kill you or be arrested for treason."

"Okay, then, moving on I suppose. Anything you want to know about me?"

"Have you ever thought about telling your team?"

"You would pick the tough question first. Yes and no," Tony answered.

"Ooookay," Daniel said making a gesture for Tony to get on with it.

"I don't know. I think I'd like to tell them, or at least tell Gibbs, but then I know I can't. What about you? Ever thought about telling your team?"

"I want to tell them because I can't stand lying to them, but . . ." Daniel trailed off shrugging. He wasn't exactly sure what to say.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tony agreed. "This is depressing, what else can we talk about?"

"I have no idea, especially considering the only stuff I _can_ tell you about is depressing."

"Surely not everything that's happened the past-," Tony began, but was interrupted by Jack's voice.

"_Daniel! Answer the phone. I know you're there. Stop ignoring me and answer the dang phone! That's an order! Oh, wait, you don't follow those." _Sam's voice could be heard in the back ground, _"Sir," _then Jack spoke again. _"Right. Daniel, answer the phone now!" _And then it started over.

Daniel gave his phone a strange look before cautiously flipping it open. Before he could say anything, Jack's voice came bellowing out.

"Daniel, where the heck are you?!"

He made to bring the phone up to his ear, but then had to pull it away again as Jack kept yelling. Finally, the yelling ended.

"Teal'c's getting antsy."

"Teal'c's getting antsy?" Daniel asked skeptically.

"Daniel," Jack's tone held a note of warning.

"Alright, I'm coming." Daniel hung up and then looked at Tony. "Well, obviously it's passed my bed time."

"Come on, I'll drop you off. I need to talk to Gibbs tonight anyway," Tony replied getting up to grab his keys.

"Well, you should probably drive fast. I figure I have about 20 minutes before Jack sends out a search party."

"Driving fast I can do and he sounds as bad as Gibbs," Tony said as they got in the car and headed out.

* * *

Holiday Inn, Jack and Daniel's hotel room.

When Daniel walked into the hotel room he was sharing with Jack he found the other man in front of the TV. Apparently, he'd found a hockey game. If only he could have gotten his own room.

Sam, of course got her own room. Being the only woman on the team, that was a given. Teal'c had absolutely refused to share a room with him or Jack. He could understand about Jack. The man snores like a donkey, which is a little . . . disturbing. Jack, of course, denies it.

Teal'c doesn't like to share with him because he, apparently talks in his sleep. Of course, it's not just the fact that Daniel talks in his sleep. No, what really bothers Teal'c is that whatever Daniel happens to say, it's rarely in a language that he recognizes.

And Jack, being the mother hen that he is, didn't want their accident prone archeologist to be alone. Jack's explanation for that had been, 'It's a big city, with lots of people. Most of them might not be friendly at all, while some might be just a little too friendly.' So, Daniel was stuck sharing a room with Jack. Lucky him.

"So?" Jack asked as Daniel sat down next to him.

"So, what?"

"Find out anything interesting?"

"Well, I found out why my phone went missing a few weeks ago."

"Ah, yes. That was fun."

"Yes, I'm sure." It would've been impossible to miss the sarcasm in Daniel's tone.

"Anyway, what did you guys talk about?"

Daniel looked at Jack, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious. You were gone a while."

"You don't trust him do you?"

"No, it's not that-,"

"Yes, it is," Daniel said cutting Jack off, "you don't trust Tony."

"Okay, fine, no I don't trust him. He hasn't done anything to earn my trust either."

Daniel had been worried about how to broach the subject. He and Tony had come to an agreement on the way over of what they would tell, but Daniel hadn't been sure about how to bring it up in the first place. Luckily, he just got the perfect opening.

"Do you trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, Daniel," Jack replied still on the Tony thing.

Daniel sighed, and then asked again.

"Jack, do you trust me?"

"Of course I do, you know that."

"I mean _really_ trust me?"

"Daniel, you wouldn't be on my team if I didn't."

Good. Daniel could tell that Jack was finally catching on that he was talking about something a little more serious than whether or not he could trust someone he didn't know.

"Okay, then there's something I should tell you," Daniel said as he stood up and started pacing.

"Okay," Jack replied. He was starting to get worried, but tried not to show it.

"Now, before I tell you anything you have to promise that you won't ask any questions. There's just some stuff that I can't tell you, yet."

"Okay, I won't ask any questions."

"No matter how much you may want to?" Daniel asked almost nervously.

"I promise," Jack assured.

"Alright, it wasn't Dark Angel."

"Huh?"

"The Marine that was killed. Dark Angel didn't do it. He puts his mark on the underside of the left wrist not the right ankle."

"What? How do you know that?" As soon as the question left his mouth Jack knew that Daniel wouldn't be able to answer it.

"I can't tell you that. All I can tell you is that Dark Angel is not the man we're looking for."

"So, you did recognize the symbol," Jack said. Daniel winced slightly giving him all the answer he needed, but he answered anyway.

"Yes, I did, but I can't tell you how or why."

Jack could tell that Daniel was still slightly nervous. He was probably worried about how he would take the news that Daniel was keeping something from him. And it was obviously something important and something that could be related to the case. But, Jack had meant it when he told Daniel that he trusted him.

"Okay, I can't deny that I'm practically dying to ask questions, but I won't. I _do_ trust you, Daniel, but I also expect you to tell me anything that I might need to know as it comes up. Especially, if it's directly linked to the case."

"I can't promise you anything Jack, but if there's something that you _really_ need to know, I will tell you."

"Good, now how about we get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"Right. And Jack," Daniel waited until Jack had turned back to look at him, "thanks."

"Anytime, Daniel, anytime."


	8. Chapter 7

**author's note: **Yay! Finally, another chapter! And it's a long one! This is definitely my longest chapter of anything to date. So, there isn't much I'm gonna say about this, cuz I don't want to give anything away. I know it took a while to get this chapter up, but hopefully it's worth the wait. I've statred on another story that's also a crossover between SG-1 and NCIS. This one I'm writing by myself, though. I have no idea when I'll start posting that one. It'll be called Protective Custody so keep a look out for it. If anyone would like to beta the story for me that would be great. Anyway, I think I'll shut up now so you can read this (hopefully) highly anticipated chapter. Please let me know what you think and ENJOY! Oh, and don't forget to check out Dark Angel if you haven't already!

**disclaimer: **I do not own Stargate SG-1 or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner **

**Chapter 7**

"Up and at 'em, Spacemonkey," Jack said as he walked into Daniel's room.

There was no response.

"Come on, Daniel," Jack shook the younger man to wake him up.

"Grmofy," was the response this time. Luckily, Jack had learned how to decipher unintelligible Daniel speak.

"Sorry, for some reason the hotel doesn't have any coffee."

"Cvuat tsuks."

"Yeah, I know it sucks. We can get some on the way to NCIS."

"No, we can't, sir," Carter spoke up from the doorway, "we're late."

"Okay, we can't get some on the way. NCIS is sure to have some. So, come on, don't make me have Teal'c yank you out of this bed."

"Alright I'm up," Daniel said grumpily as he got out of bed. He looked from Jack to Sam. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Hurry up, though, we're late."

"Yeah, whatever," Daniel said as he shut the door in Jack's face.

"We have got to find him some coffee. I do not feel like dealing with a grumpy Daniel," Jack said to the others.

"He is always grumpy when he doesn't get his coffee," Carter stated in agreement.

"Indeed," Teal'c added.

Once Daniel was ready the four of them headed over to NCIS. They were a little surprised when they reached the bull pen, though. They knew they were late, yet the only one's there were Ziva and McGee. As they neared the pair Jack was able to catch the tail end of their conversation.

"Uh huh, I knew it, you think he's . . .," McGee was saying, but Ziva interrupted.

"Hot."

"Yeah, that," McGee said. "Never thought I'd see the day when you actually liked one of Tony's friends."

"Well, he is very attractive and intelligent," Ziva said just as Jack came to a stop in their work area.

"Who's hot?" Jack asked, all though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Uh, no one," McGee said nervously.

"Right," Jack drawled. He stumbled slightly when Daniel knocked him out of the way as he headed for Tony's desk. Daniel flopped down into the chair, laid his head on the desk and muttered 'coffee.'

"Someone is not a morning person," Ziva commented.

"This ain't bad," Jack said shrugging, "he's usually worse than this. Anywho, back to my question."

He got nothing but silence in response.

"Right," Jack glanced from one agent to the other. "Teal'c," he said after a while. Now they would talk.

Jack just stood there and watched as Teal'c leveled a slightly intimidating look at McGee. The young agent squirmed slightly, desperately trying to withstand Teal'c's stare. Within a minute, he caved.

"Ziva. Not that I mean she's hot, well, she is, but that's not what I meant. I meant to say that Ziva thinks Dr. Jackson is hot."

"Oh," Jack replied not the least bit surprised.

"What?" Daniel muttered without raising his head.

"Same old, same old, Danny Boy," Jack said in reply to his friend.

"Oh," the younger man said quietly. Then he stood up abruptly and said, "I'm going for coffee," and then walked off.

"That was very . . . Gibbs like," McGee said.

"What was that McGee?" Gibbs asked walking back into the bull pen and going over to sit at his desk.

"Um, nothing, boss," McGee replied.

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked changing the subject with no warning.

Jack watched the two younger agents as they looked toward the empty desk and then at each other. It was obvious neither of them wanted to answer. Luckily, they were spared when the elevator dinged and DiNozzo himself stepped out. Jack raised an eyebrow at the sight of Daniel's friend. The poor guy looked like he a rough night.

"Sorry, I'm late, boss," DiNozzo said heading straight for his desk.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said obviously giving his senior field agent the once over.

"Didn't sleep well, then overslept the alarm," the younger man answered looking directly at Gibbs.

Jack could see the silent communication passing between the two, which made him all the more curious as to what was up with DiNozzo, but he gave nothing away. At least, not that Jack could tell. It was frustrating not knowing. He vaguely wondered if this was how people felt when he and Daniel did it.

"Don't worry, I'll live, Gibbs," DiNozzo added a slight smirk barely visible on his face.

"Alight, people," Gibbs said after a while. "Get back to work."

"Sir," Carter spoke up pulling Jack's attention away from the NCIS agents, "shouldn't Daniel be back?"

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"You'd think," Jack said. He was about ready to send out a search party to track down the trouble magnet when he walked back into the room looking much more alert. Of course, that probably had something to do with the large cups he was carrying.

"Daniel," Jack said.

"Jack," Daniel replied.

"What took so long?"

"Couldn't find any decent coffee, so I went to Starbucks," Daniel said before taking a sip from one of the cups.

"Why two cups?" McGee asked looking curiously at Daniel.

"Didn't want to run out," Daniel answered. Then Jack saw concern flash across his face when he noticed the state his friend was in. "Here," Daniel said walking over to DiNozzo's desk, "looks like you need this more than me."

"Thanks," DiNozzo replied taking the cup from Daniel and downing half the contents in one go.

Daniel leaned over the desk and said something quietly to DiNozzo; although what it was Jack had no idea because it was in another language. Ziva's head shot up what she heard DiNozzo quietly respond in the same language. From the look on her face it was obvious that she had no idea that he even knew that language. It also seemed that she didn't even know what language it was, if the confusion in her eyes was anything to go by.

Jack was extremely curious now. From the conversation that he and Daniel had ha d the night before he knew there was something that the younger man was hiding. But now, it was beginning to look like he wasn't the only one.

"Alrighty then," Jack said forcing his thoughts to the back of his mind, "so, anything new pop up?"

"I have nothing to report as of yet. I am still waiting to hear back from my contacts," Ziva said in answer to Jack's question.

"McGee," Gibbs said loudly, effectively snapping the younger agent out of the shocked silence he had apparently fallen into.

"Um, nothing yet, boss," McGee quickly replied.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs asked.

"I got nothing yet, boss," Tony answered. "But, getting to work now."

"O'Neill, your team find anything out?"

Jack just stood there for a moment wondering why Gibbs had asked that. Why would he be asking if Gibbs' team had found out anything new if they already had? Nope, Jack would have waltzed right up to Gibbs' desk and made sure the NCIS agent knew that they had found a lead.

"Guys?" Jack asked looking over at his team. They all shook their heads no. "That would be a no," he said turning back to face Gibbs.

"I suggest everyone get back to work so we can-," Gibbs began, but was cut off when his phone began to ring. "Gibbs," he said answering the phone.

Jack shared a glance with Carter as Gibbs spoke to whoever had called him. After a few minutes he hung up.

"Well?" Jack asked when Gibbs didn't immediately say anything.

"Grab your gear, we got another body," Gibbs said standing up and heading for the elevator. McGee, Ziva, and Tony all began grabbing things and then followed after Gibbs.

"Shall we," Jack said to his team. The four of then headed after Gibbs and his team, catching up right as the elevator doors opened.

"Well, this should be fun," Jack said, pointedly ignoring the stares he was getting.

* * *

After a rather interesting car ride of Jack swerving in and out of traffic and running red lights in an attempt to keep up with Gibbs, they finally arrived at the second crime scene. Surprisingly, they were all still in one piece. SG-1 climbed out of the car and got a good look at their first crime scene.

"That was worse than my first trip through the Stargate," Sam said quietly to Daniel.

"Yeah," Daniel replied.

The four of them walked up to Gibbs, his team having already moved out to complete their assigned tasks. Daniel looked around, an uneasy feeling settling in his gut. Something didn't feel right.

"Agent Gibbs," Jack said after observing Gibbs' team in action. "What would you like us to do?"

Daniel looked at Jack in surprise. Jack never cooperated with people willingly. He liked to be in charge. Just the fact that he was asking Gibbs what to do was astonishing.

"Assign them to work with a member of my team," Gibbs replied.

"Okie dokie," Jack said. He then turned to the rest of his team. "Alrighty, Danny Boy, you can work with Agent DiNozzo. Anybody else have a preference? No? Good. Carter, work with McGee. Teal'c, Officer David."

Daniel just nodded as he headed over to where Tony was taking pictures of the scene.

"Yeah, Daniel wouldn't have been happy if I tried to tell him to work with someone else. He doesn't follow orders very well," he heard Jack say to Gibbs as the two of them headed over to the body.

Daniel saw that Dr. Mallard was already kneeling next to the body. It even looked like he was talking to it.

"What have we got here," Ducky said looking at something on one of the arms. "Anthony, you may want to get a shot of this."

Daniel silently followed Tony over to the body. Tony snapped a picture and then suddenly went pale. Daniel moved closer to get a better look.

"What have we got, Duck?" Gibbs asked walking over.

"Well, it appears . . .," Ducky began.

"Oh crap," Daniel muttered as he finally saw what was causing such a fuss. 'Oh, this is so not good,' he thought to himself. Right there in front of him, on the underside of the left wrist, was his mark, a black Eye of Ra.

"We have a similar marking like we found on the other body," Ducky continued as if Daniel hadn't said anything.

"Daniel? What was that?" Jack asked looking from him to the mark and then back at him.

"What was what?" Daniel replied hoping Jack would drop it although he knew he wouldn't.

"Daniel, don't start," Jack warned.

"Do you recognize this mark, Dr. Jackson?" Gibbs asked.

Suddenly, everyone was staring at him. Wonderful.

"Well, of course I recognize it. I do have a degree in Egyptology. That would be the Eye of Ra," Daniel said in answer to Gibbs. Turning to Jack he added, "It's not what you think."

Jack just nodded slightly.

"Alright, well, how about you get back to work," Jack said patting Daniel on the shoulder.

"Sure," Daniel replied. He was more than happy to get as far away from Jack as he could at that moment.

Jack only vaguely heard Ducky telling Gibbs about how the guy was killed. He watched Daniel as he walked away. He had already known that Daniel knew more than he was letting on, and he had respected the fact that there was something that Daniel wanted to keep secret. He was starting to think that he should find out what that secret was. Jack tuned back into what was going on around him just in time to hear Ducky say that the man had been killed eight hours ago.

"That would mean that the killer still has to be in the area," McGee said looking up from his note pad.

"Ya think, McGeek," DiNozzo replied as he and Daniel walked back over.

"If he's still in the area he could actually be watching us," Carter said. "In fact, I would almost say he's trying to send a message."

"Carter?" Jack asked confused as to where she was going with this.

"Well, think about it, sir, I mean, sirs," she began to say in explanation, "this is obviously the same MO. Both bodies appear to have been killed the same way. The only real difference being the marks found and that they are in different spots."

"I concur with Major Carter," Teal'c stated as he and Ziva joined the group already gathered around the body.

"If they are trying to send a message," McGee began to say.

"Then who is it being sent to," Ziva finished.

"That's a mighty good question," Jack said frowning as he saw Daniel and DiNozzo glance at each other.

"Alright, Duck. Pack it up everyone. Ziva, anything useful," Gibbs said. It looked to Jack like Gibbs had noticed Daniel and DiNozzo as well.

"Nobody saw anything," Ziva said in answer.

"Well, I say while our people here are getting packed up, you and I have a little chat, Agent Gibbs. I have some theories of my own," Jack said after Ziva had walked away.

Gibbs only nodded and then walked off. Jack followed.

"Something's up with Daniel. And I'm beginning to think the same about one of your agents," Jack said once he was sure they were far enough away to not be overheard.

Gibbs just stood there silently for a moment before he spoke.

"I agree with you there, O'Neill."

"Call me Jack."

"Fine, Jack. You can leave off the agent part for me."

"So, what do suppose is up with those two?" Jack asked curious as to what the other man thought.

"No idea, but I intend to find out very soon."

"Ah, so the plan is you corner Agent DiNozzo and I'll corner Daniel."

"Sounds like a plan."

"When you planning to do this?"

"Today," Gibbs said before walking off toward the cars. It looked like everyone was packed up and ready to go.

"Right, today," Jack muttered to himself as he followed Gibbs. He was tired of Daniel hiding things from him. So, when they got back to NCIS Jack would confront him about it. And this time he wasn't going to let it go before he knew the truth.

* * *

As soon as they arrived back at NCIS, Gibbs began issuing orders to his team. Jack just ignored him. He grabbed Daniel's jacket and began pulling him towards the men's room.

"I think it's about time we had a little chat," Jack said quietly to Daniel. "Carter, Teal'c, do whatever they tell you," he called over his shoulder.

Jack slammed the men's room door open and pushed Daniel in before him.

"Get out now," Jack said coldly to the man standing at the sink washing his hands. The man jumped and then practically ran out of the room.

"Jack, what is this all about?" Daniel asked confused.

"I don't know, Daniel, you tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Whatever it is you're not telling me."

"And what makes you think that there's something that I'm not telling you?"

"Because you flat out told me that there's something you're not telling me. So, tell me already!"

Daniel stood there for a moment giving Jack an odd look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Daniel said finally.

"Oh, yes you do. You don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been acting."

"I don't know what-," Daniel began.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Jack said interrupting. "Daniel, you're hiding something."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are and I know it."

"Oh, okay then. What am I hiding?"

"What?" Jack asked confused. "How the heck should I know? You're the one that's hiding it."

"Jack-,"

"Daniel, just tell me."

From the look Daniel gave him Jack almost thought he was about to deny it again.

"It's not that simple," Daniel said quietly. His whole demeanor had changed. He stood there calmly looking Jack in the eyes, waiting.

"It is that simple," Jack replied.

"No, it's not."

"Oh, yes it is. Just open your mouth and talk."

"Jack, I can't."

"Yes, you can. You do it all the time."

"No! Jack, you don't get it. You have no idea what you're getting into."

"Then explain it to me."

"I can't."

"Daniel, it's pretty obvious that you know something that pertains to this case. And I mean more than what you told me about Dark Angel. You recognized the second symbol and not just because it's the Eye of Ra."

Daniel sighed and turned around. He should have known this was going to happen. He knew that eventually Jack may have figured something out, that he didn't really know him as well as he thought. Then Dark Angel's mark had popped up. It obviously hadn't been Tony's work because the mark had been in the wrong spot. And now his mark had shown up. He really had no idea what to do.

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I can't just tell you everything you want to know, Jack," Daniel replied without turning around.

"Why not?"

"Is it difficult for you to disobey orders?"

"What?" Jack was thrown by that question. Daniel couldn't be suggesting what he thought he was suggesting.

"Is is difficult for you to disobey orders?" Daniel repeated finally turning to face Jack.

"So, you're saying that by telling me anything you'd be going against orders?" Jack asked hoping to get a straight answer.

"Against orders, against training, Jack you really have no idea what's going on."

"And you do?"

"Well, no. Not exactly."

"But, it has something to do with you, though, right?"

Daniel remained silent.

"Daniel, you know you can trust me."

"Of course I know that," Daniel shot back seemingly offended that Jack may have thought that he didn't trust him. "This has nothing to do with trust, Jack. I trust you with my life-,"

"Then you can trust me with this," Jack interrupted.

Daniel sighed once again.

'Come on, Daniel. You know you want to tell him,' a voice, which sounded suspiciously like Jack, said in his head.

'It goes against everything that I have been trained to do,' he thought back.

'Your training doesn't matter anymore. It's all coming out anyway. So, you may as well tell him now.'

'I don't know if I should.'

'You've been wanting to tell him for years, now. So, just tell him already!'

Daniel shook his head to clear it. Great, now he was arguing with himself. And as if that wasn't bad enough his inner voice sounded like Jack.

Jack could see the indecision on Daniel's face. It was obvious that the younger man was debating with himself. Jack only hoped that he had convinced Daniel that he could tell him.

"Just tell me what you can," Jack said quietly.

"I'm an assassin. Or at least I used to be," Daniel said sighing in resignation.

"What?" Jack couldn't have heard what he thought he heard.

"I'm an assassin Jack. Trained to kill people and ya know, all that stuff."

"You're kidding right?" Jack couldn't believe this. There was no way that Daniel was an assassin. That would be like saying that Teal'c moonlighted as a ballerina, pink tutu and all. It was just absurd.

"No, I'm not kidding."

"Daniel, there's no way. I mean you barely even know how to use your gun."

"That's because I was pretending."

"Pretending?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. Do you even know how hard it is to act like I don't know what I'm doing with a gun? To act like I can't hit what I'm aiming at? Jack, I can take apart a P-90 and put it back together in under twenty seconds with my eyes closed."

"No way."

"Yes, way. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that I already know how to fight. I don't know if I could actually beat you, but I could definitely hold my own."

"Daniel, you can't be serious."

"I'm very serious."

Jack just stood there a moment studying Daniel. He was having a hard time believing this. Daniel had to be joking. There was no way he could have hidden something like this from him for seven years. But, as Jack looked into Daniel's eyes he could tell he was telling the truth.

"Oh my gosh, you are serious."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this, especially, not now."

"I want you to prove it."

"What?" Daniel asked but Jack had already walked out of the room without saying anything else. Daniel hurried after him. Jack had marched right up to McGee's desk.

"Give me your gun," Jack demanded of the young agent.

"W-what?" McGee stammered.

"Your gun. Give it to me."

"It's alright, McGee. Just do it," Gibbs said as he and Tony walked into the bull pen from the direction of the elevator. Daniel guessed that Tony had most likely been subjected to an interrogation from his own boss.

McGee pulled his gun out of a drawer in his desk and cautiously handed it to Jack. Jack pulled the gun out of the holster and held it out to him.

"Prove to me that you can do everything you just said."

"Fine." Daniel took the gun and briefly looked it over.

"Eyes closed," Jack reminded.

"You know I was talking about a P-90."

"So, you can't do it with this gun?" Jack asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's not what I said."

"Alright, then. Go ahead."

Daniel sighed. He knew everyone was staring at him, but there was no turning back now.

Jack was vaguely aware of Carter's jaw dropping open and Teal'c's eyebrows shooting up in surprise. He barely kept his own mouth from dropping open. Daniel had just closed his eyes, pulled the gun apart, and then put it all back together. When Jack glanced at his watch he noticed that not even ten seconds had passed.

Jack snatched the gun away when Daniel looked at him again. He quickly checked it over to make sure that it had been put together correctly. To his surprise, it was.

"Alright, now I wanna see you shoot it," Jack said holding the gun back out to Daniel.

"What?" Daniel asked glancing around at the others. His gaze rested on Gibbs when his phone rang.

"You said-," Daniel's attention was dragged back to Jack when he spoke. He was vaguely aware of Gibbs stepping away to hold his conversation with whoever had called him.

"I know what I said, Jack."

"Okay, then." Jack shook the gun slightly indicating that Daniel should take it.

"I can't shoot it here." Daniel gestured to the rest of the squad room.

"Fine. We'll just have to find-,"

"That will have to wait," Gibbs said interrupting Jack as he hung up his phone. "Abby said she has something."


	9. Chapter 8

**author's note: **Guess what!! Here's the next chapter!!! I tell you this has got to be the quickest I've ever updated (at least a story that _I _am actually writing). Anyway, as a bit of a change I get into Sam's head at the beginning of this chapter. Later, though, it switches back to Daniel, but I did that for a reason. Oh, and this chapter and the new chapter of Dark Angel (go check, it should be there), they don't actually go along with each other. They each deal with something different. So, you should probably read both of them. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think!

**disclaimer: **I do not own Stargate SG-1 or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 8**

Sam followed behind Jack as they all headed toward the elevator. She wasn't sure what to make of what she had just seen. She glanced back at Daniel where he was walking next to Gibbs. He seemed to be deep in thought, almost like he was debating with himself over something. Glancing over at Teal'c she noticed that he too was studying the archeologist. It looked like he wasn't really sure what to make of things either. As they all filed onto the elevator Gibbs and Daniel stopped just outside. Leaning forward, Sam noticed that DiNozzo was still at his desk talking to someone on the phone.

Taking the momentary distraction Sam once again scrutinized Daniel. There was just something about him that seemed different. Something she hadn't noticed before. She wasn't sure what it was though. Glancing to her right surreptitiously she noticed that both Teal'c and the Colonel were also watching Daniel. Teal'c raised an eyebrow slightly. He apparently didn't know what was going on with the youngest member of their team any more than she did. Colonel O'Neill on the other hand looked he did.

"Boss, I'll meet you guys down there. I have an errand to run real quick," she heard DiNozzo say as he walked up to the elevator.

"Hurry," Gibbs replied before he stepped into the elevator.

She saw Daniel glance back at DiNozzo as the other man headed for the stairs, a look she couldn't read on his face. With a slight shake of his head he too stepped on the elevator.

"So, Daniel," Sam began once the elevator had started moving.

"Not now, Sam," Daniel said before she could finish. She frowned slightly and was about to say something else when she noticed the Colonel shaking his head. Apparently he wanted her to drop it as well. What the heck was going on?

The elevator gave a quiet ding as it came to a stop and the doors slid open. They stepped off to hear music blasting from the forensics lab. Sam still didn't know what to make of the forensics tech either.

"What do you got, Abs?" Gibbs asked as they walked into the lab.

"No Caff-Pow?" Abby asked leaning to the left slightly to see around Gibbs. "Come on, Gibbs. I just got all this stuff that I have to run and I-,"

"What do you got, Abs?" Gibbs asked slowly, but not unaffectionatly.

"Okay, fine. I haven't had a chance to process all of it yet, but I have the partial print that was found on the belt running, but there's a good chance that it belongs to our vic and not the killer. Major Mass Spec is running that mystery substance that was found by the trashcan a few feet away from where the body was found. I haven't got a hit from either of those yet."

Sam blinked and then just stared. The young Goth had just said all of that without taking a breath in between.

"She's like McKay on crack," Sam heard Daniel say quietly to Jack. The Colonel just nodded.

"Have you not found anything then, Abby Scuito?" Teal'c asked.

"I wouldn't have called you down here if I hadn't," Abby replied with a bright smile before she spun on her heel, her pig tails flying. "Anyway, so as soon as I got a picture of the symbol that was found on this body I began running it. As you can imagine I got a ton of hits, of course it is the Eye of Ra so that was expected. So, I decided to run it through the same database I used for Dark Angel's mark. And this is what I found." She finished by hitting a key on her keyboard.

They all looked up at the plasma to see a small box identical to the one that had popped up for Dark Angel. Everything from gender to age, height and weight were unknown. But there was a name.

"Aqtam Ajnabi," Ziva said reading the name.

"What does it mean?" McGee asked.

"It is Arabic. It means Dark Foreigner," Ziva replied. "It is rumored that he and Dark Angel often worked together."

None of the others noticed that both Gibbs and Jack had turned to look at Daniel. Or the fact that Daniel looked uncomfortable with the way they were looking at him.

"Do you have anything else, Abs?" Gibbs asked turning back to face the young woman.

"I won't have anything else until my babies speak to me," Abby replied shrugging.

"So, do you think that this Dark Foreigner guy actually did it?" McGee asked.

"No," Jack said, "I don't."

Before anything else was said Tony entered the lab.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said giving his agent a glare. It had taken a bit for him to run his errand, or whatever it was he had been doing, though, so Sam could understand why Gibbs was a little aggravated.

"Sorry, Boss," Tony replied. "But, could I talk to you for a moment?" He asked. "Privately?"

"Office?" Gibbs asked walking over to where DiNozzo was still standing by the door.

"Yeah," Tony answered. And with that the two of them left the room.

* * *

Daniel watched as Gibbs and Tony left. Something wasn't right. He had no idea what that something might be, but there was something off in the way Tony had acted. He highly doubted the others had noticed. If he didn't know Tony so well, he would have missed it too. But, Tony had always been good at hiding his thoughts and feelings from others.

"Well then," Jack said in the sudden silence, "I guess we should get back to work."

They all headed out of the lab, McGee and Ziva heading for the stairs instead of the elevator. Daniel waited until they were out of earshot before he spoke.

"Actually, guys, I think we should talk."

"You sure about this?" Jack asked glancing at Sam and Teal'c correctly guessing what Daniel wanted to talk about.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright, I think their conference room should be empty."

Daniel sighed silently as Jack turned and headed for the stairs, Sam and Teal'c following behind. He had thought long and hard about this. It had been on his mind ever since he saw that photo with Tony's mark. It hadn't taken him long to decide that he wanted to tell his team. If he was honest with himself he had wanted to tell them a long time ago, but something had always stopped him.

He still had reservations about telling his team the truth about himself. But they deserved to know. After everything they had been through together he knew he could trust them. He had never doubted that. He knew that there wasn't anything that he couldn't trust them with. The only thing that had kept him from telling them was himself, his training, and the possibility that they would ask questions that he wouldn't want to answer. But he was fed up. He was sick and tired of hiding. Tony had always been the one that was good at going undercover, not him. He was going to tell them and nothing would stop him this time.

The walk up to the conference room was made in silence, but Daniel knew that silence wouldn't last for long.

"Alright, Daniel, lay it on us," Jack said after they had entered the conference room and shut the door behind them.

"Okay, well, I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just going to come right out and say it." Daniel paused looking at each of them in turn before he continued. "Dark Foreigner didn't kill the second victim."

"Daniel there's no way to know that. His mark _is_ on the body," Sam said.

"Yes, it is, but it's not in the right place. Dark Foreigner leaves his mark on the back of the neck not the wrist."

"That's . . . ironic," Jack commented giving Daniel a funny look. Oh yeah, Jack had definitely figured it out. He had suspected as much when both Jack and Gibbs had looked at him when Ziva had said that Dark Angel and Dark Foreigner had worked together. Which meant that Gibbs probably knew too, but Daniel knew he could trust him. After all, Tony trusted him, what else did he need to know?

"How do you know this, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah, how could you possibly know where he leaves his mark?" Sam asked. She looked confused. "There's apparently nothing known about him, just like Dark Angel."

Daniel sighed. It was now or never.

"I know because _I _am Dark Foreigner."

Daniel had seen Sam and Teal'c when something shocked or surprised them, but never before had he seen Sam's blue eyes get so big or Teal'c's eyebrows rise so high.

"What?!" Sam exclaimed. "You're Dark Foreigner? How? When? Why?"

"I too am surprised at this revelation," Teal'c stated his eyebrows still higher than normal.

"I think you should probably explain all of this to us," Jack suggested.

"Alright, well, it's kind of a long story so you guys might want to sit down," Daniel said. Once they were all seated he continued. "Before I tell you anything, though, I want you to promise me that you won't say anything about this to anyone, that you won't talk about it where others could hear you. There are some things that you might figure out, especially if you really think about it, but that's not my secret to tell, so please don't ask about that. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I promise," Jack said quickly. There was no way he was going to pass up the chance to find out about Daniel's past.

"I will speak of this to no one, Daniel Jackson, you have my word," Teal'c said.

"Sam?" Daniel asked looking at her.

"I promise, Daniel," Sam said giving him a slight smile. She was still in shock over what he had just told them and now he was about to reveal more about himself. She wasn't quite sure what to think.

"Okay, well, to start, most of what you guys already know about my past it true. Both my parents died when I was eight and I did grow up in foster care. What you don't know is that after I graduated high school I was recruited into this organization."

"Wait a minute," Jack interrupted. "They recruited you when you were fifteen?"

"Well, yeah, but the first few years I spent in training, not in the actual field. I didn't start that until I was older."

"How old exactly?" Jack asked. Just the thought of Daniel being an assassin was something to take in, but now there was a chance that he had been out there in the field before he could even drink legally. That Jack wasn't sure what to think about it, or even if he _wanted_ to think about it.

"That's not the point," Daniel said avoiding the question, which was a sure fire sign that he knew that they wouldn't like the answer. "The point is that yes, I am a trained assassin, yes, I used to be a spy. I never needed any of you to show me how to use a gun because I already knew how, honestly, you would be surprised at how much I know about guns. I know how to fight, basically everything you thought I didn't know how to do or how to handle I actually did know. I just couldn't tell you."

"You've been hiding this from us all along?" Sam asked even more shocked than she was to begin with.

"I only did because I had to. A little over seven years ago there was a breach. I don't know exactly what because I wasn't told, but it wasn't hard to put some of the pieces together. I'm guessing that someone on the inside had gone rogue and began killing operatives, so the rest of us were sent into hiding."

"That's why you were hired for the translation of the cover stone," Jack said, briefly letting his intelligence show.

"Catherine had already been trying to track me down for that so it worked as the perfect cover. And to be honest, I hated it at first."

"You hated it? You certainly didn't seem like it," Jack said.

"That's because I was, well, I guess you could say I was undercover. But, yes I hated it. I didn't want to be there. No matter how fascinating the cover stone was . . ." Daniel trailed off. He stood abruptly and began pacing.

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c all shared a glance. Obviously, whatever had happened all those years ago still bothered Daniel.

"After my parents died, I never really had anyone," Daniel said after awhile. "That is until I got recruited. And then when I got sent into hiding I was separated from the only person that I considered to be family. I had no way to contact them, no way to know where they were, nothing."

"You don't hate it now do you?" Sam asked almost worried as to what his answer might be.

"No, I don't hate it now."

"So, what changed?" Jack asked. He had a feeling that he knew who the person that Daniel had talked about was, but Daniel had asked them not to ask about it, so he wouldn't.

"Well, I met you guys," Daniel replied smiling slightly. "I have to admit, when I first met you guys, I wasn't really sure what to think, or do for that matter. I was thrown into a world that didn't make sense, surrounded by military personnel, and having to hide who I was from everyone. It was hard. But, then I started to really trust all of you, which then made everything even harder for me. I was torn between wanting to tell you and knowing that I couldn't. But, even though the person I mentioned earlier will always be like family to me, you guys are my family now. And traveling to others planets for a living is a definite bonus."

"So you actually like what you do now?" Sam asked deeply touched that Daniel considered her to be part of his family.

"Yeah, I like it now. I may not have liked being sent into hiding, but the Stargate is definitely worth it."

"Yes, you get to save the world now," Jack said grinning at Daniel.

"There is that," Daniel replied also grinning.

"I really have no idea what to think about all of this," Sam admitted.

Daniel noticed Jack nodding and Teal'c inclining his head agreeing that they didn't know what to think either. Teal'c hadn't said a word throughout his entire explanation and for once Daniel couldn't tell what the Jaffa was thinking, his face completely impassive giving absolutely nothing away. Jack on the other hand was a jumble of emotions most of which disappeared before Daniel could figure out what they were. Sam he could tell was shocked, surprised and even a little confused. Honestly, he couldn't blame them. They had just found out that he had been hiding something for the entire time that they had known each other.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in and I want you to know how sorry I am that I didn't tell you sooner," Daniel said, his friends silence finally getting to him. "Maybe I should just leave you guys to think about this," he said. He headed for the door without waiting for a response.

"Daniel," Jack called before he could escape. He reluctantly turned around.

"Yeah?"

"This doesn't change anything. You're still Spacemonkey to me, okay?"

"Okay," Daniel nodded and then left.

"How could he have not told us about this?" Carter asked sounding hurt after Daniel had left.

"Because, Carter, he had been trained and ordered not to," Jack replied. He could understand why Carter felt hurt and betrayed, he did too, but he had had more time to think about it. It hadn't been Daniel's fault that he couldn't tell them.

"How do you know, sir?"

"Because, Daniel and I already had a little chat and I got him to tell me. Although, I have to admit, it's still surprising."

"How can you just accept this, sir? Daniel basically just admitted that we've never really known him."

"Think about this from Daniel's point of view, Carter. We're not the only ones that are affected by this. I can only imagine what he's thinking right now. Probably something along the lines of us never wanting to have anything to do with him ever again."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"You heard him, Carter. We're family. That and we never leave our people behind. Yeah, sure, Daniel's been hiding something from us, but that shouldn't change anything. I mean, he's still Daniel, it's just that now we know that he's got a broader skill set that we didn't know about."

"I know that, sir. I'm not trying to be unaccepting or anything, it's just a lot to take in at the moment. And it was a bit of a shock. I love Daniel like a brother and this won't change anything, it's just going to take some time for this to sink in."

"Daniel Jackson still remains one of my closest friends. Nothing will change that," Teal'c stated.

"Alright, then how about we go find him and let him know he can stop worrying," Jack suggested. Sam and Teal'c both agreed. It didn't take them long to find Daniel, considering he was right outside pacing up and down the hallway.

"Daniel," Jack said to get the other man's attention. He was a little surprised when Daniel jumped before he spun quickly around to face them.

"Jack," Daniel replied. Jack could hear the nervous undertone in his voice.

"You can stop your worrying," Jack declared happily.

"I wasn't worrying," Daniel responded.

"Oh, yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't."

"Were too."

"No, I . . ." Daniel trailed off and then smiled at Jack.

"Ya see, Danny Boy, nothing's going to change."

"So you guys aren't mad or something that I never told you?"

"No, Daniel, we're not mad," Sam said in reassurance. "We understand why you didn't tell us."

"Indeed."

"Good." Daniel sighed in relief.

"Oh, just to be clear, there isn't anything _else_ that you haven't told us is there?" Jack asked.

"Nope, nothing else."

"Great. Now, come on, Spacemonkey," Jack said throwing an arm across Daniel's shoulders, "We have a killer to catch."

If Daniel was honest with himself, he had been worried. He didn't know how they would react to what he had told them. They were taking it better than he had thought they would. But, Daniel was relieved he had told them. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't have to hide anything from them anymore and for the first time in a long time he was truly happy. Daniel relished the feeling. He knew that soon enough there wouldn't be time for happy, friendshippy moments like this. Something was about to happen, something big, and it wasn't going to be good.


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's note: **Oh what's this? OMG it's an update!!!!!! I think I may be as excited as you guys that we're finally updating these stories. So, just to warn you Jack and Daniel have another little talk. and by little I mean long. I won't tell you what it's about, you'll just have to read and find out. Oh, and I tried something new. The beginning of this chapter is from Teal'c's pov. And I can honestly say that it was difficult for me to write that bit. I am just not that serious. But I gave it my best shot. Well, anyway, i think I'll shut up now so that way you can get on with this brand new chapter. OMG an update! Sorry, I'm still a little surprised that we actually have one for you. So, as I was saying, this is a new chapter for you guys to read and when you're done it would be very much appreciated if you would let me know what you thought of it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Stargate SG-1 or NCIS.

* * *

**Dark Foreigner**

**Chapter 9**

Teal'c followed silently behind his companions. He had noticed Daniel Jackson acting strangely before they had left Stargate Command. His strange behavior had only escalated once they had reached NCIS. He didn't know what to make of it at the time. Now that he knew the reason for Daniel Jackson's behavior he understood why the younger man had reacted the way he did.

Teal'c knew that it would be difficult for Major Carter, and possibly even O'Neill, to fully understand why Daniel Jackson had kept such a secret from them. Teal'c, however, did understand. He knew how difficult it must have been for Daniel Jackson to keep something like that a secret, especially after they had become such a close-knit team.

It was a difficult thing to keep a part of yourself hidden from those that you trusted most. Teal'c understood this. He also could understand Daniel Jackson's trepidation in telling them, the uncertainty and fear that your closest friends would not be able to accept you once they knew the truth. But, Teal'c knew that that would not happen. SG-1 had been trough too much to turn on one of their own.

* * *

They reached the bullpen just as Ziva and McGee finished giving their report. Daniel noticed that Gibbs was watching the four of them and he had a feeling he knew why. He was fairly certain that Gibbs had figured out that he was Dark Foreigner and then knowing that the four of them had just had a private conversation, it probably wasn't too difficult for him to figure out that Daniel had just told his team. Of course it probably didn't help matters much with the way Teal'c and especially Sam kept glancing at him. He just knew that when this was all over and they were back at the SGC all of them would bombard him with questions. He was just glad that they had to restraint to keep from asking them now.

Glancing at his watch Daniel realized that is was lunch time. Now would be the perfect opportunity to have another chat with Tony. "Hey, Jack," he said turning to face him, "it's lunch time."

"So," Jack replied. Then he noticed the pointed look Daniel was giving him. "What do you really want, Daniel?"

"I want you to go over there and ask Agent Gibbs if his team could go to lunch," Daniel said in reply, "because I would really like to take my friend out to lunch."

"Awe, Danny Boy, nice to know you care."

"Jack, you know what I mean."

"Why don't you go ask him yourself, then?"

"Because."

"Because……?" Jack drawled waiting for Daniel to expand on his answer.

"Jack, just go ask," Daniel said sounding slightly annoyed.

"Fine," Jack said glaring at Daniel. He then turned and walked over to Gibbs' desk. "Gibbs."

"Yeah," Gibbs asked looking up.

"Daniel over there was wondering if your agents could go to lunch now."

"Well," Gibbs said pausing briefly, his eyes flicking past Jack and then back, "take lunch."

"Tony, come on. My treat," Daniel said looking to his friend.

"I hope you have a good paycheck," Ziva said, "Tony eats enough for four people."

"I know, he always has," Daniel answered without looking at her. "Well?" He asked Tony.

"Sure, what's for lunch?"

"You pick, this is your turf, not mine," Daniel said as he waited for Tony to gather his things.

"Good point. How about Italian," Tony said smiling as he and Daniel headed for the elevator.

"One hour, DiNozzo," Gibbs called before they left.

"Got it, Boss," Tony answered as the elevator doors slid open and they got on.

* * *

The restaurant was a small, family-owned establishment. As soon as they stepped through the door Daniel was hit by the smell of garlic, basil, tomato sauce, and pasta. For as small as the place was they were rather busy. Everywhere he looked Daniel saw people talking, laughing, and genuinely just enjoying their lunch with whomever they happened to be with. The hostess, a young friendly girl with an Italian accent, led them to a booth in the back, luckily away from the other patrons.

Neither of them said anything as they perused the menus. However, as soon as the waiter left with their order Daniel broke the silence.

"I told my team," he said getting right to the point.

"That's good," Tony said, "although, I did notice that Carter still looked a little startled by the revelation of your past."

"They all were, but out of them all Sam would be the one that would take it the worst. Not that she took it bad, it's just, we were so close and she thought she knew me and then this comes out," Daniel sighed slightly. He was finding it difficult to express what he was thinking. "You know what I mean?"

"Unfortunately, I do. And I still have to have a much more detailed conversation with Gibbs. It's hard trying to tell people you've worked with for this long, who think they know who you are, and have counted on you to watch their backs in tricky situations. That's why I don't want to tell the rest of the team yet," Tony answered. They both fell silent when the waiter came with their food. The young man placed the food on the table, asked if they needed anything else, and then left when they both said that they were fine. "So, yeah, I think I might know what you mean," Tony added once the waiter had left.

"I know what you mean about the conversation. I asked my team to wait until we go back home to ask questions, but I don't think Jack will be able to wait that long."

Tony just sat there shoving food in his mouth. Daniel could immediately tell that there was something that Tony was keeping from him. It was so obvious to him, especially with the way Tony was acting. There was only one reason why Tony would shove food or something into his mouth like he was now, and that was when there was something he knew he should tell Daniel, but he didn't want to.

"Would you stop shoving food in your mouth and just say whatever it is that you don't want to say," Daniel said after watching Tony for a couple of minutes.

"Cambrough is here."

"Oscar Cambrough? Here? Why?"

"Yes Oscar Cambrough. And yes, here, as in D.C. Because he found out that my sign showed up on a body and he came to try and talk me into going into hiding somewhere else," Tony said attempting to sound casual.

"Hiding," Daniel said his tone a mixture of amusement and sarcasm, "what a wonderful solution. It certainly worked the last time."

"Can't say I disagree with you there," Tony said, "but on a more serious note, do you have any real thoughts on the situation, minus the sarcasm."

"My thoughts on the situation. Well, mainly, what would be the point in hiding? It was a mistake the first time; it would be an even bigger one now. This situation should have been dealt with already. Besides, I highly doubt either of us would want to leave our current lives."

"Right," Tony drawled. "I kind of told him that when I saw him today and then I introduced him to the one person I know for a fact that will catch this guy."

Daniel smiled slightly at that. "You know, I had that same thought when I met Gibbs. It's obvious he's good at what he does, and then you pair him up with Jack. This guy really isn't going to know what hit him when we do find him."

"That's for sure. And I should probably tell you that Cambrough doesn't know you're here. I'm not even sure he knows about the second body yet, but he probably will by morning."

"And then he'll try to talk _me_ into going into hiding." Daniel shook his head. "This needs to end. I am tired of running."

"I kinda figured you'd feel that way. That's part of the reason why I didn't tell him you were here, that way we get the upper hand. And I know he'd try to use us against each other to get us to do what he wants. I respect him more than just about anybody else, but I refuse to play his games. This time he's gonna have to play by our rules, especially if we're gonna catch this guy."

"We're in charge for once," Daniel said thoughtfully with a grin, "I like the sound of that."

"Yep," Tony said. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket, "hold on," he said to Daniel before talking into his phone. "Yeah Probie, what is it? Okay, got it."

Tony put his phone back into his pocket and then looked at Daniel before he motioned to the waiter to bring the check.

"So, back to work, huh? Maybe we'll actually make some progress," Daniel said as he accepted the check and paid for their meal.

* * *

The day had finally come to an end and SG-1 had returned to their hotel. Once again they hadn't gotten very far on the case, but no one was going to give up. Although, Jack could honestly say that he missed going through the gate, exploring new worlds, he even missed being shot at by the bad guys. But, before they could return they had to solve this case. Especially considering the fact that one of their own was mixed up in the middle of everything.

Jack sighed as he hung up the phone. He had just updated Hammond on their progress, which unfortunately wasn't much. He'd had to wait until they had returned to their hotel to give his report. They had enough to deal with without someone from NCIS overhearing something that they shouldn't.

Now that the report had been taken care of he could turn his attention to other matters. Namely: Daniel. Ever since Daniel had returned from lunch with his friend he'd seemed distracted. Of course Daniel did his best to act like there was nothing bothering him, but Jack knew Daniel better than that. Plus, DiNozzo kept shooting looks in Daniel's direction. It was a good bet that the NCIS agent knew what was bothering Daniel, but he didn't know what to do about it. So, now all Jack had to do was get Daniel to talk to him.

"Hey, Daniel," Jack called as he walked back into the main room. He stopped as soon as he realized the younger man was nowhere in sight. Stepping out into the hallway he knocked on both Carter's and Teal'c's doors.

Carter's door swung open. "Sir?" She asked when she saw Jack. Teal'c's door opened seconds later.

"Have either of you seen Daniel?" Jack asked.

"He said he was going for a walk," Carter answered.

"Indeed, but I do not believe that Daniel Jackson left the building," Teal'c added.

"How could he go for a walk and not leave the building?" Jack asked.

"He went up, sir," Carter said pointing to the ceiling.

"Oh, okay, well, then I'm gonna go…" Jack trailed off also pointing at the ceiling.

* * *

As soon as he heard the roof access door open Daniel knew that it was Jack. It didn't really surprise him. He knew that Jack had noticed that he had been distracted earlier. Sam and Teal'c had probably noticed too. As much as Daniel really didn't want to talk about what was on his mind he knew Jack wouldn't let it go until he did. That of course didn't mean he wouldn't try to put it off for as long as he could, though.

"Hey," Jack said as he came up beside him.

"Hey," Daniel replied.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Daniel-,"

"Seriously, Jack," Daniel said cutting Jack off, "nothing's wrong."

"Yeah? Well, you seemed pretty distracted earlier."

"I had a lot on my mind."

"And……" Jack prompted.

"And . . . it's still on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it?" Jack asked.

"Not really, but you won't let it go until I do," Daniel said glancing at Jack with a slight smile on his face.

"You got that right," Jack said. "Now talk."

"Well, it seems that another part of my past has shown up," Daniel said.

"What?" Jack asked confused. "How much is there to this past of yours?"

"More than I'd like to admit."

"Right, so, this most recent happens to be . . . what?"

"Oscar Cambrough is here."

"Who?"

"Oscar Cambrough," Daniel said again, "he was basically in charge of everything. He didn't actually recruit or train me personally. Actually, I never even met him until after I'd been there for a while."

"Daniel, you don't have to beat around the bush. Once you told me that stuff about the marks and then especially after you told us that you were Dark Foreigner it wasn't hard to put two and two together," Jack said.

Daniel knew what Jack meant, but he didn't say anything in response. There was still a lot that he didn't know; most of it though was not something that he could just tell anyone. It wasn't really his place to tell it.

"You're not gonna say it are you?" Jack asked.

"It's not my secret to tell," Daniel replied.

"Fair enough," Jack said, "but just for future reference, especially if it has anything to do with this Cambrough guy, I already figured out that DiNozzo is Dark Angel."

Daniel nodded. "I know."

"You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to," Jack said. "Unless it's important, or has anything to do with the case, or-,"

"I get it," Daniel said cutting Jack off.

"Okay, so back to what we were talking about," Jack suggested.

"Right. Well, it was after I met Tony that I really got to know Cambrough," Daniel began, feeling slightly uncomfortable at blatantly admitting that Tony was Dark Angel despite the fact that Jack had already figured that out. "Over time he sort of became a father figure, I guess."

"And now he's here in D.C." Jack asked.

"Not just D.C. He apparently came to NCIS today. He wanted to talk to Tony."

"And what about you?"

"He doesn't know I'm here, yet. Tony didn't tell him."

"But, DiNozzo told you about Cambrough."

"Yeah," Daniel nodded.

"Okay, I'm a little confused. This man, who was apparently a sort of father figure to you, and I assume that DiNozzo knows this," at Daniel's nod Jack continued. "So, this guy suddenly shows up to see DiNozzo, but he doesn't know that you're here and DiNozzo for some reason doesn't tell him. But, he seems to think it's alright to tell you about this guy being here. And to top it all off it almost sounds as if you don't really want to see this guy in the first place. What I can't seem to figure out is why?"

"Why to what?" Daniel asked mentally going over what Jack had just said.

"All of it."

"Okay, let's start with the last bit," Daniel suggested. "It's not that I don't want to see him."

"Then what is it?" Jack asked.

"If he knows I'm here then he'll try to convince me to go into hiding again. That's why he came here in the first place," Daniel said.

"He was trying to get DiNozzo to go into hiding?"

"Yeah."

"And if Cambrough finds out that you're here he'll try to do the same thing with you."

"Exactly."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Jack said confidently.

"It won't be that simple."

"Oh, yes it will. Just say no."

"Jack you don't understand. Cambrough is a master of manipulation. Which is part of the reason that Tony didn't tell him about me. He would try to use me against Tony to get him to do what he wants and vice versa."

"Oh," Jack had no idea what to say now that he knew everything. Well, almost everything.

They both stood there in silence just looking out over the city. Several minutes passed before Jack spoke up.

"So, what would you say if Cambrough tried to get you to go into hiding again?" Jack asked.

"What do you think I'd say Jack," Daniel replied sounding as if the answer should be obvious.

"What about when this is all over? Would you go back if Cambrough offered?"

"Jack, it doesn't matter what he may say of what he may offer me, what we do is too important to just walk away."

Jack only nodded in response. The two of them stood there in silence for a while. It didn't take long before Jack was fidgeting.

It was obvious to Daniel that there was something Jack wanted. Of course, he knew that in this case it didn't matter how long he waited Jack wouldn't say what was on his mind. So, with a sigh Daniel broke the silence.

"What is it, Jack?"

"What is what?" Jack asked trying to look innocent.

"Whatever it is that you want to say."

"Who says that I want to say anything?"

"Whatever you want to ask, then."

"Who says I want to ask anything?"

"Jack," Daniel said exasperatedly.

"Okay, fine. I know that you said to wait until we got back to SGC to ask questions, but there's something that I'm dying to know," Jack said looking almost hopefully at Daniel.

"What do you want to know?" Daniel asked wondering what there was that Jack would want to know so badly.

"Why you?"

"What?"

"Why did they pick you?"

"Oh." Daniel wasn't really expecting this question to come up. "Well, they usually wanted to recruit people that no one would really notice if they suddenly went missing."

"So, they chose you because you were in foster care?" Jack asked.

"It was more that that really. I wasn't actually approached until after I had graduated high school became an emancipated minor."

"But, the foster care thing helped, though, right?"

"Probably. I don't know. They never really told us why we specifically were chosen."

Jack was quiet for a minute. He was trying to think of something else he could ask. Well, at least, something else that he really wanted to know. When something finally came to him he wasn't entirely sure if Daniel would give him an answer or not. But, there was only one way to find out.

"Is what David said true?" Jack asked.

"What she said about what?" Daniel asked back slightly confused.

"What she said about you and DiNozzo working together."

"Oh, that," Daniel said. He figured that it probably wouldn't hurt anything if he answered. "Yeah, it was true. Although, we didn't always work together."

"Oh, do tell," Jack said intrigued.

"Yeah, for a while I worked alone, but it didn't take long to figure out that we worked better together. For instance, there are things that I was better at than he was and vice versa."

"And what exactly were you good at?" Jack asked hoping that it wasn't what he was beginning to think. That and he knew that both DiNozzo and Daniel had been assassins at one point.

"I was really good at finding the best ways to get in and out of buildings, encampments, and well, anywhere really. I would memorize the layout of whatever we happened to be going into so that if for whatever the reason we had to change our plan and use a different way out other than the one that had originally been chosen, then I would be able to get us there. Tony, on the other hand, was more likely to get lost. I was also good with languages.

"You still are," Jack interrupted.

"Another thing I was good at was talking," Daniel said.

"Yet another thing that hasn't changed," Jack said cutting Daniel off again.

Daniel gave Jack a look that clearly said 'Stop interrupting me.' So, Jack shrugged and mouthed 'sorry.' Daniel took that as his cue to continue.

"I wasn't just good at talking," Daniel said giving Jack another pointed look. "Tony once told me that I could probably talk anyone into doing what I wanted them to."

"Why, because they got so aggravated they would agree just to get you to shut up?" Jack asked smiling slightly at Daniel.

"Could be. I don't really know. I never thought that it was true and Tony never elaborated on what he meant," Daniel relied with a shrug.

"Can I ask just one other thing?" Jack asked.

"Sure," Daniel said turning to look at Jack wondering once again what it was that Jack wanted to know.

"How did you and DiNozzo meet?"

"Well, that's a funny story. At least, one that you'll find funny anyway."

"And why is that?"

"Because we met in the infirmary."

"Well, I don't know about funny, but, knowing you, it's definitely not surprising."

"Yeah."

Once again silence fell between the two men. Daniel was looking out at the city, but Jack was studying his friend. After a short while Jack broke the silence.

"You two were really close weren't you?" He asked. He knew that Daniel had said that he and DiNozzo had been like brothers, but Jack honestly hadn't really believed that. At least, not until he saw the two of them together. Even though they had not seen each other for over seven years it was like they had never been separated.

"Yeah we were," Daniel said, "and we still are."

"I can see that."

"Coming here," Daniel said as he turned to face Jack, "it's like nothing's changed, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Jack replied.

"But even though it seems like nothing's changed it has. We have."

"From what I can tell it doesn't seem to matter."

Daniel just smiled slightly.

"Well," Jack said with a soft sigh, "despite the fact that there is a lot more stuff that I want to know about you we should really call it a night."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed.

"We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow. And who knows maybe we'll actually make some progress."

"That would be nice," Daniel said as the two of them left the roof to return to their room.

* * *

**Author's Note (yep another one): **Don't forget to go check out Dark Angel. Cuz guess what, there's a new chapter of that one too!!


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **YAY!! Another chapter!! I know several of you will be very excited about this. I know I am. We're finally speeding things up a bit in this chapter so keep a look out for that. Anyway, I don't want to put too much here, cuz if I do then that will be just a little longer for you to wait before you can read the chapter. That is unless everyone just skips this part and just jumps right to the story. So, anyway, I will shut up and let you get on with it. And don't forget to go check out Dark Angel which had also been updated. So I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Oh wait, I just remembered, our stories are about to branch off from each other, so in other words in order to know what's going on you'll have to read both of them. Just thought I'd warn you about that. Okay, now I'm shutting up. Hehe. Oh, and this chapter officially puts me at over 20,000 words!! My longest story ever!!!!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own nay part of NCIS or Stargate SG-1.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Sam let out a soft sigh as she stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of the hotel. It was early, a little too early, but once she had woken up she knew that there was no way she'd be getting back to sleep. She was almost surprised that she'd gotten to sleep in the first place. With everything that they had learned over the past few days her brain had gone into overdrive. This whole thing with Daniel had her wanting to know what kind of things he had done in the past and then that led her to thinking about what he was still capable of.

She hated to admit it, but she was almost positive that if she was alone with him she would probably be a little uncomfortable. She hated herself for thinking that considering Daniel was her best friend, but it was just the thought of what else is he hiding or what else is he lying about that had her wondering. If he had hidden something like this from not only her, but the Colonel and Teal'c as well, it really made her curious about what other things they may not know about him. Letting out another sigh, Sam shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and made her way over to the breakfast bar. She wasn't expecting there to be much considering the hour, but she hoped they had something.

Once again discovering the puzzling fact that this hotel had absolutely no coffee, Sam glared briefly at the bar before grabbing an orange juice and spinning around on her heel to make her way over to one of the tables set up just a few feet from the breakfast bar. She jumped almost dropping her orange juice, her free hand fling up to her chest when she saw Daniel standing a few feet behind her. She hadn't even heard him approach.

"Gosh, Daniel, don't sneak up on me like that," she said, wincing at the fact that it had come out a little harsher than she had intended. If Daniel noticed he didn't acknowledge it.

"Hey, sorry, I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, but I guess old habits die hard, right," he replied with a shrug. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's okay, I just wasn't expecting to see you. It's still early, especially for you," Sam said attempting to lighten the mood by making a joke about him not being a morning person.

"Yeah," Daniel said with a slight smile, "and I see that they still don't have any coffee."

"Nope," Sam answered.

"So, what are you doing up?" Daniel asked as he walked past her to grab himself an orange juice. "It's still relatively early for you, too."

"Yeah, I, uh, had some trouble sleeping," Sam admitted a little sheepishly. She just knew that Daniel would be able to figure out that he was the main reason she had been losing sleep.

"So, I'm not the only one then," Daniel commented frowning slightly. He didn't like the fact that his friends were losing sleep over this situation with him.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Sam asked. Now she was extremely curious wondering what was keeping him from getting the sleep she was pretty certain that he needed.

"Nope, got way too much on my mind," Daniel replied.

"Did Colonel O'Neill find you last night?" Sam asked. "I know he wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, he found me, and we did talk. I have to admit talking to Jack did help which is probably why I got any sleep at all, but I guess it didn't help enough."

"Oh," Sam said not sure what to say to that. She was dying to know what the Colonel and Daniel had talked about last night, but she wasn't sure how to go about asking. That and she didn't even know if Daniel would even tell her. So, without knowing what to say she just made her way over to one of the tables and sat down, Daniel following behind.

"Sam, are we okay?" Daniel asked taking a seat across from her.

"Of course," Sam replied happy to know that she meant it.

"You know you can ask me anything you want," Daniel said giving her a slight smile. He could tell earlier that Sam had been trying to hide her curiosity about what he and Jack had talked about, but for some reason she hadn't asked yet.

Sam sat there and thought for a moment. She was trying to figure out if there was one specific thing that she really wanted to know, but for the life of her she couldn't think of one. So, she decided to start from something else that she really wanted to know about.

"So, what did Colonel O'Neill want to talk to you about?"

"Lots of things," Daniel answered. He almost laughed when Sam frowned at that. She probably thought he didn't want to tell her anything. "But mainly we talked about my past and how it's all coming back to haunt me."

"What do you mean 'haunt you'?"

"Well, first those bodies showed up with not only my mark, but Dark Angel's as well. And I know for a fact that neither of us had anything to do with those murders. And now Oscar Cambrough has decided to make an appearance."

"Who?" Sam asked confused. She had never heard of anyone by the name of Oscar Cambrough before.

"He was the man in charge of pretty much everything. I had personally never met the man, at least not until I met Dark Angel. He was a good man, pretty much a father figure, but if there was one thing he was really good at it was manipulating people into doing what he wanted them to. And now he's here in D.C. trying to do the same thing."

"What exactly is he doing here?" Sam asked still just a little confused. She was fairly certain that she knew who Dark Angel was; Daniel himself had said it would be obvious if they really thought about it. But he had also asked them not to ask about that because it wasn't his secret to tell. And as she thought about it, considering that Daniel hadn't mentioned Cambrough earlier that he wasn't necessarily here for him. Now things were starting to make a little more sense.

"It was Cambrough's idea in the first place that we go into hiding and now he's here trying to get us to do the same thing. Well, not me, at least not yet. He doesn't actually know that I'm here."

"But, when he does he'll try to talk you into going into hiding again," Sam said finishing Daniel's sentence. She almost laughed out loud at that. They hadn't finished each other's sentences for a while now.

"Exactly," Daniel replied.

"So, what are you going to do when he does find out about you being here?"

"I don't know yet, but I can guarantee you I will not go into hiding again. Like I told Jack last night, this thing should have been resolved seven years ago, but because it wasn't I'm not going anywhere until it is."

"And what about after that?" Sam asked. She was curious to know if Daniel missed his old life and if he missed it enough to go back to it.

"Again, like I told Jack last night, it doesn't matter what Cambrough says or what he offers, I'm not going anywhere. I like what I do know way more than what I used to do," Daniel replied.

"Well, that's good to know," Sam said smiling. After this talk she was pretty sure that every issue that she had with Daniel was gone. She no longer felt uncomfortable and she could tell that nothing about Daniel had changed. There was just a little more to him than they had known before, but she was certain that what he had left them see was who he actually was.

They both lost track of time as they sat there talking about anything that happened to pop into their heads at the moment. Neither of them were really sure how much time had passed before they realized that there was sunlight streaming into the lobby through the glass doors.

"Hey Jack, Teal'c," Daniel said without even looking away from Sam. As such Sam as able to not only see the incredulous look on the Colonel's face and Teal'c's eyebrow raise, but she also got to see the slight smirk on Daniel's face.

"Okay, that's not fair," the Colonel said as he took a seat next to Daniel.

"Well, now you know how I feel when you do it to me," Daniel replied. "Although, I'm pretty sure that if I was really trying you wouldn't know I was there."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Colonel O'Neill muttered before her turned his attention toward Sam. "Morning Carter."

"Good morning, sir, Teal'c," she replied.

"Major Carter, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said inclining his head in greeting. Then he too sat down in the only free seat left.

Sam looked at her watch realizing that while the sun was up it was still a little early for them to be heading to NCIS yet, so they all waited until the hotel staff brought out the stuff for breakfast. The Colonel and Daniel practically raced each other to the bar to see who could get there first. Sam and Teal'c hung back and let them get out of the way before they too grabbed some food.

Breakfast was nice. They all sat around the table each taking turns asking Daniel about something that they didn't know. And it seemed that Daniel was more than happy to answer their questions. Although, if any of their questions got a little close to something that he really didn't want to talk about, namely Dark Angel, then he wouldn't answer the question specifically. Usually he would just say 'ask me later.'

Before long they realized that they needed to head back up to their rooms to get ready to head to NCIS. Of course, Daniel was adamant about stopping for coffee on the way. The Colonel protested, but Daniel won that argument which didn't really surprise Sam. The two of them were bickering the entire way to the coffee shop and then after they left there all the way to NCIS. They were still bickering as they entered the bullpen.

"Just great, now we're gonna be late," Jack grumped.

"Since when have you ever cared if you were on time or not," Daniel said back rather sarcastically, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. That had to be about the twentieth time that Jack had complained about being late since they left the hotel.

"I don't usually, but that's only when it's my fault I'm late, not when it's your fault."

"What? Jack, that didn't even make sense."

"Maybe not, but you know what I'm trying to say," Jack shot back looking particularly triumphant about getting the last word as the four of them came to a stop by Gibbs' and team desks.

Daniel once again resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was about ready to pull a Gibbs and smack Jack upside the head, but he didn't because he knew that Jack would just hit him back. He'd have to do it later when he was about to leave and then Jack wouldn't have a chance to get him back. Daniel shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and get back to the conversation at hand.

"Whatever, Jack. I'm not doing this right now."

"Are they always like this?" Ziva asked looking to Sam and Teal'c for the answer.

"Indeed," Teal'c said a little too quickly as if he was embarrassed by them.

"Worse," Sam said, before both he and Jack turned and glared at the two of them. Although, Daniel was desperately trying not to smile because it was just too funny, especially Jack's reaction to it all.

"Traitors," Jack muttered. "So," he said turning to face the NCIS agents, "where are we on the case?"

"Same as yesterday," Tony replied. Daniel could tell that his friend was trying not to laugh at them. It was good to know that he wasn't the only one.

"Great. Just freakin' great," Jack said irritated.

"So, how are we supposed to solve this when there isn't really any evidence to go by?" Daniel asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

"We keep looking till we find something we might have missed," McGee answered.

"Or until we come across something that might lead us in a different direction," Tony put in.

"So basically we keep reading the same things over and over again till something new pops out?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Gibbs said speaking for the first time since SG-1 had arrived.

"Not today Danny Boy," Jack said making Daniel stop in his tracks as he was heading toward Tony's desk. He spun around and gave Jack a 'what do you want' look hoping Jack would elaborate.

"I think we should change things up today," Jack continued holding in a smirk at Daniel's peeved look. "Might help with the perspective and all."

"What?"

"You heard me. Today work with Agent David. Carter work with DiNozzo. And Teal'c you can work with McGee," Jack said making it clear with his tone that it was meant as an order.

Daniel glared briefly at Jack, although he did agree with him, not that he would ever let him know that. Maybe working with someone else would help in making something stick out that they had missed before. Just as Daniel had sat down in the extra chair at Ziva's desk, which had been there since they day SG-1 arrived, Gibbs' phone rang.

"Gibbs," he said rather brusquely into the phone. About a minute passed before he hung up and looked at the rest of them. Of course, they were all looking at him wanting to know what his phone call was about. "We got another body. Fits our MO. Grab your gear." Gibbs grabbed his sidearm out of a desk drawer, hooking it onto his belt as he made his way toward the elevator. The rest of them hurried to grab their things and follow.

* * *

**Crime Scene**

Once again the car ride over to the crime scene felt more like a roller coaster. It had been a little worse than before with Jack trying to keep up with Gibbs, but Daniel had a feeling that it most likely had something to do with the fact that Ziva had been driving. And then Jack had suggested that they ride in the cars with who they were going to work with. And once it had been decided that he, Tony, Sam, and Ziva would be in the one car and Gibbs, Jack, McGee, and Teal'c in the other, Tony thought it would be hilarious if he let Ziva drive. Daniel was so going to get him back for that.

"And just so you know, you're still working with the partners I already assigned you," Jack announced as he and the others made their way over. As if that hadn't been obvious with the car arrangements.

"Fine," Daniel grumbled before pushing his glasses back up. He took a few deep breaths hoping that his breakfast would stay down.

As Daniel and Ziva headed off to begin bagging and tagging pretty much everything they saw, Ducky and his assistant, Daniel wasn't sure what his name was, pulled up in the NCIS van. Being so far away he couldn't hear what exactly they were saying, but as they gathered around the body Daniel was sure that something was going on. It was even more obvious when Tony and Sam went over to take pictures that there was something different about this body than the ones they had found previously.

"Doctor Jackson?" Ziva asked yet again. It was obvious that he was deep in thought about something.

"What?" Daniel asked turning to Ziva.

"I asked if you were alright. You seem a tired," Ziva said.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm a bit tired, but I'm okay," Daniel replied.

"So, you and Tony are close?" Ziva asked. She was fishing for information. From the looks of things Daniel knew Tony rather well and she was curious to know if there was anything that she didn't know about her partner.

"Yeah, although we haven't seen each other in a while, but I guess some things never change."

Ziva nodded thoughtfully. He hadn't given anything away, so she would just have to try again with a little bit more pointed questions. Although, before she could act on her plan she noticed something on the ground, or rather that something was missing.

"Tony," Ziva yelled over to where he and Major Carter were, "There is some more evidence to be photographed over here."

Daniel looked at the ground quickly seeing what Ziva was talking about. There was a little tuft of grass missing from an otherwise immaculate field. But, he couldn't help but wonder if this actually had anything to do with their case.

"Isn't this kinda far from where the body is?" He asked. He was vaguely aware of Tony and Sam arriving as Ziva knelt down to get a better look at the ground.

"Yes, it is, but it could be possible that the body was drug from this direction," Ziva replied.

Makes sense," Daniel said, mentally smacking himself. He should have thought of that. "So, if the body was moved then that would mean he was killed somewhere else."

"That's exactly what it could mean, Pole," Tony stated with a wide grin.

"Pole?" Sam asked looking from him to Tony and then back.

"Yeah, it's a nickname Tony gave me years ago," Daniel said. He really hated that name. "I had hoped you forgot that name you know."

"I would never forget your nickname. What kind of friend would I be if I did," Tony asked before handing the camera off to Sam. "So Zee-vah, what is Sam here taking pictures of?"

"This," Ziva said pointing to the upturned grass, "and this." This time she was pointing to some kind of goop that was on the ground. They had seen just seconds before Tony and Sam had gotten there.

"What is that?" Sam asked as she finished with the grass and then moved to take pictures of the goop.

"That's a very good question," Tony said leaning down to get a better look.

"Well, it's a substance of some sort," Daniel said. Other than that he had no idea what they were looking at.

"You know it almost looks like it could be," Tony began, "uh, yeah, no idea."

"Dr. Jackson, we have more evidence to go collect," Ziva said suddenly, scooping the goop into a bag and labeling it as she began to walk away. Daniel gave Tony a confused look before he followed after her.

"So, do you have any idea what that stuff could be?" Daniel asked as he caught up with the Mossad agent.

"I do not," Ziva replied. "But Abby will be able to figure it out."

"Gosh this case just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Daniel said.

"Not to mention confusing," Ziva added.

"Yeah, that too."

They were quiet for a bit as they both collected things into bags and labeled them.

"Dr. Jackson, can I ask you something?" Ziva asked.

"Uh, sure, and call me Daniel."

"Daniel, why exactly does Tony call you 'Pole'?"

"Oh, that, well, that's a funny story really," Daniel said inwardly cringing. He really, _really_ hated that nickname. "So, you see when we first met, I thought it would be funny to give Tony a nickname, of course I based it off of his name. You know he's Anthony DiNozzo, yet he goes by Tony, so I called him Tad. And then he thought it would be hilarious, especially after we started doing a lot of things together to call me Pole."

"I do not understand," Ziva said. She got why Daniel called Tony Tad, but the Pole thing had her confused.

"Well, he's Tad and I'm Pole, so you know you put it together and get tadpole. Tony thought it was beyond hilarious," Daniel said, "I, on the other hand, just thought it was ridiculous, but hey, this is Tony we're talking about right."

"I see. I do not see the humor in it either, but you are right, with Tony it seems that everything is funny."

"Yeah."

The two of them kept collecting anything that they thought could be evidence before Gibbs yelled saying that it was time to go. AS they reached the cars Gibbs was angrily looking past them.

"Where are Carter and DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked looking at the two of them.

"They're not back yet?" Daniel asked looking around.

"Would I be asking where they were if they were back yet," Gibbs growled back.

Daniel just glared at him.

"Okay, how about we look for them," Jack suggested jumping in between the two. "Where was the last place they were seen?"

"Over there," Ziva answered pointing to where she and Daniel had left Sam and Tony earlier. "They were taking pictures of this." She held up the bag with the goop in it.

"When was this?" Jack asked.

"Only about 10 minutes ago," Daniel answered. There was something wrong and he knew it. Without waiting for the others Daniel jogged over to the area where he and Ziva had first found the goop. Looking around Daniel noticed another bit of goop not too far away.

"Daniel?" Jack asked as he and the others joined him.

"Something's not right, Jack. I can feel it," Daniel replied walking over to the other bit of goop.

"Look there's more," McGee said, pointing to yet another spot of goop a little further away.

"It's a trail," Gibbs said as they all walked over to the next spot.

"Why would there be a trail?" McGee asked kneeling down and poking the goop with a gloved finger.

"Because it was a trap," Daniel answered as he knelt down a little bit away from McGee and the goop.

"We don't know that," Jack began, hoping beyond hope that Daniel was wrong.

Daniel didn't answer with words. He just held up two objects. Tony's badge and Sam's dog tags.


	12. Chapter 11

**author's note: **Hey finally a new chapter! And it's a long one! So hopefully this was worth the wait although the wait was rather ridiculously long, and I will freely admit that. I will do my very very best to not make you wait for so long for the next chapter, but I can't guarentee anything.

Oh, and if you would like I have posted a songfic challenge that my sister actually came up with. I haven't actually posted a response yet, but I do have something in the works so keep an eye out for that.

And don't forget to check out the new chapter of Dark Angel. These chapters feature different things so you need to read both to get everything.

**disclaimer: **I don't own any part of NCIS or Stargate SG1.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"McGee," Gibbs started only to be cut off by the agent in question.

"Get the gear, on it Boss." McGee turned and began heading back toward the cars to grab their gear. They had another scene to process now.

"Teal'c, help him," Jack said. Teal'c inclined his head before following the young agent to get the gear.

Gibbs just stood there a moment wondering how the heck this could have happened. No one had seen or heard anything and now two people were missing. Tony was missing. Looking around he saw Ziva kneeling down where Jackson had found Tony's badge and Carter's dog tags. She was most likely looking for anything that could indicate who took them. From the look on her face she wasn't finding much, if anything.

O'Neill was standing there silently fuming. Of course, Gibbs understood how he felt. They both had one of their own missing. But then O'Neill suddenly turned to stare intently at Jackson. Gibbs followed suit. The young man was surveying the area, looking at everything from the ground to the sky to the small building that had blocked the view of the rest of them as Tony and Carter had been abducted.

"Their attackers came from that way," Jackson said pointing to a small path that led out of the field and straight to a road. The path was lined with bushes and trees ensuring that whoever used it wouldn't be seen by anyone on the other end of the field. But it wasn't the only way in without being seen.

"And what makes you say that?" O'Neill asked sounding skeptical.

"Because, Jack, I know what I'm talking about. Whoever took Tony and Sam came from that direction." Jackson sounded so sure, but Gibbs was with O'Neill, they could have come from anywhere.

"You don't know that for sure," O'Neill said.

"Yes I do," Jackson countered.

"How!" O'Neill all but yelled at the younger man.

"Because it's what I would have done!" Jackson yelled back. Now that Gibbs was really studying him he could tell that Jackson was just barely holding himself together. But then again, he was close to both Tony and Carter.

O'Neill seemed to understand as soon as Jackson said what he said. Gibbs had his suspicions about the archeologist, well, his suspicions being that he was fairly certain he had the young man figured out. Ziva stood, looking questionably at the two men. She was no doubt curious as to why what Daniel would have done had anything to do with Tony and Sam being gone.

"Boss, we have the gear," McGee said as he and Teal'c returned.

"Get to work, look for anything that seems out of place," Gibbs ordered.

"What would you like us to do, Gibbs?" Jack asked.

Gibbs thought for a moment. He was beginning to think that it was time that he and O'Neill had another chat. Glancing around briefly he quickly made up his mind. There were a couple other ways that could have been used to get to this spot without being seen from the other side of the building and they all needed to be checked out.

"McGee, you and Jackson head that way," Gibbs said indicating the path that Jackson had pointed out, "look for anything that seems out of place." The two younger men nodded and then headed off to get started. "Ziva, you and Teal'c check that way," he pointed to the path that ran perpendicular to the path Jackson and McGee were on.

"I guess that leaves this way for us to check out," O'Neill commented motioning toward the last remaining path.

Gibbs grabbed a pack and began heading up the path. O'Neill caught up quickly and fell into step beside him a camera in his hands. They walked in silence for a while both looking for anything that might indicate that this path had been the one used by the kidnappers.

"So, I take it you wanted to talk to me," O'Neill finally said breaking the silence.

"I think it's safe to assume that there is something more going on here. Something that the two of us may not know everything about," Gibbs replied.

"Is that your way of asking me if I know something you don't?" O'Neill asked. "I didn't peg you for subtle Gibbs."

"I'm not usually, but I had a feeling that you wouldn't answer if I asked bluntly."

"Under normal circumstances you're right, I wouldn't, but these are far from normal circumstances. Besides, I think it's safe to say that we both know that this involves a member of both of our teams."

Gibbs stopped walking and turned to face O'Neill. The other man copied his actions and calmly stared back. They stood there for a moment each of them thinking over everything and coming to their own conclusions.

"The messages that were being sent," O'Neill began.

"Were for Jackson and Tony," Gibbs finished.

"Yeah, but what was with putting the marks in the wrong places?" O'Neill asked trying to work it out in his head. "And then putting it on the forehead?"

"It was a warning," Gibbs stated. It made sense now that he really thought about it, or at least thought about it in relation to Jackson and Tony.

"The symbol on the forehead," O'Neill suddenly blurted out, "it means that whoever took DiNozzo and Carter knew where to find DiNozzo."

Gibbs nodded agreeing with O'Neill. It did seem that the placement of the marks meant that the killer was closing in on their target. He'd found one and now he would be going after the other. And based on the look on O'Neill's face he had just come to the same conclusion.

"Crap," O'Neill said, "he's going after Daniel next."

McGee was silent as he and Daniel walked up the path. He looked from the bushes on the right to the ground to the bushes on the left looking for anything that stood out. So far there was nothing. That and his gaze kept wandering back to the man next to him. Daniel was practically shaking with anxiety, although he really couldn't blame him. Two of his friends were missing, taken, and they didn't even know why or who took them.

"So, see anything?" McGee asked breaking the silence.

"What?" Daniel asked snapping out of his thoughts.

"I asked if you'd seen anything yet."

"Oh, no, not yet."

"Yeah, me either."

They fell silent once again both looking intently along the path for anything that could help.

"So, you and Tony are friends," McGee stated not exactly sure where to go from there.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed.

"Right." McGee didn't know why he felt awkward, but he did.

"So, how long have you been with NCIS?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, uh, I was on the tech team for a while, but I've been on Gibbs' team for about three years," McGee replied. "How long have you worked for the Air Force?"

"What, you didn't find that out when you and Ziva looked me up?" Daniel asked with a grin.

"What?" McGee practically squeaked. He had been so sure that Daniel had been too out of it to even notice what was going on around him then.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me that you were checking up on me. If someone showed up out of the blue claiming to be a long lost friend of Jack's, Sam's, or Teal'c's I would do the same thing."

"Oh, okay." McGee was still a little unsure. Although he and Ziva had found some information on Daniel it seemed that there were some things that they didn't know. The whole thing with the gun kind of gave that away.

"Seven years."

"What?"

"You wanted to know how long I've worked for the Air Force," Daniel said glancing over at McGee, "the answer is seven years."

"Wow, that's a long time."

"Yeah. It's kinda weird when I think about it. When Tony and I, uh," Daniel hesitated briefly before continuing. He'd almost forgotten that McGee didn't know. "Went our separate ways, he jumped from job to job until finally stopping at NCIS, and I stayed with the first thing I found."

"I guess Tony was just looking for somewhere where he fit in," McGee suggested. Honestly he had never really thought about it.

"Maybe," Daniel began, but then trailed off staring at something.

"What?" McGee asked.

"Look," Daniel replied pointing the way he was looking.

McGee hadn't even realized that they had come to the end of the path. But when he turned to look he saw exactly what Daniel was talking about.

"Oh."

Ziva let out a soft sigh. She and Teal'c had been walking this path for a little while now and it was painfully clear that there was nothing for them to find. The path, though wide was relatively short and led directly to a fence, thus making it unlikely that the kidnappers had used it. But the two of them walked all the way to the end and looked around. And once again they found nothing. Ziva breathed out another sigh.

"Are you unwell, Officer David?" Teal'c asked.

"I am fine, Teal'c," she replied.

Teal'c only inclined his head before he resumed studiously examining their surroundings. Ziva did the same, for all of about five seconds.

"There is nothing here," she exclaimed.

"I believe you are correct," Teal'c said. "Perhaps the others have been more successful."

"I certainly hope so because this path is a beast."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow quizzically at her.

"I may have gotten the phrase wrong, Tony is usually here to correct me." Ziva let out an irritated huff. Two people were missing and they had yet to find anything that would give them a clue as to who had taken them or where they had been taken.

Ziva was about to suggest that they turn back when her phone rang. Pulling it off of her belt she flipped it open and brought it up to her ear.

"David."

"_Ziva, you and Teal'c need to head back here right away," _McGee said from the other end of the line.

"Did you find something, McGee," she asked while turning and walking briskly back the way they had come. Teal'c followed behind without comment.

"_Yeah we found something. Not much, but definitely something."_

"We are on the way. Have you informed Gibbs yet?"

"_Yeah, I called him before I called you. He and O'Neill are almost here."_

"Teal'c and I will be there momentarily. Good work McGee." She hung up and smiled at Teal'c. He didn't actually smile, but she was positive that he looked happier than he had been before.

On the ride back to NCIS Gibbs was torn between enjoying it and hating it. He enjoyed it because, unlike usual it was quiet and no one complained about this driving. He hated it for that exact same reason. It was just too quiet. He would never ever admit it out loud, but he kind of missed DiNozzo's constant chattering. Even Ziva and McGee would have said something, but he had left them with Jackson and O'Neill to continue looking for clues while he and Teal'c returned to NCIS with what little they already found.

Walking into the building he and Teal'c headed straight for the elevator and then headed down to Abby's lab. Gibbs wasn't one to get nervous and honestly he wasn't nervous now, he just knew he should have called and told Abby what was going on as soon as Tony and Carter had gone missing. But it was too late for that now.

"Abby," Gibbs called out as the two of them headed into the lab.

"Hey Gibbs," Abby said spinning around to face them, "ooh goodies." She walked over and started rummaging through the evidence box that Gibbs had set on her table. Gibbs could tell the moment she knew something was wrong.

Abby pulled the bags that contained Tony's badge and Carter's dog tags out of the box and looked at Gibbs expectantly.

"Why are these here?" She demanded.

"Because we need you to check them for fingerprints," Gibbs replied calmly. It would only be a matter of moments before the outburst.

"The only fingerprints that should be on here are-,"

"Abby," Gibbs said deciding it would be better if he stopped her before she really got going. "Tony and Carter were kidnapped and right now that is the only evidence we have so I need you to focus."

"You should have called me. You can't just spring something like this on me and just expect me to be able to 'focus'. It's just not possible. I mean Tony is missing . . . again, and if that wasn't bad enough he just had to go and take someone with him, and,"

"Abby, these people, the ones that took Tony and Carter, they're good. But you're better. Okay?"

Abby let out a breath, only slightly disappointed that she didn't get to finish her rant. "Okay, but what if I don't find anything?"

"You will," Gibbs assured. Abby nodded and then abruptly got to work ushering both Gibbs and Teal'c out of her lab. Once they were back on the elevator Gibbs glanced over at Teal'c. The man hadn't said a word the entire time they had been in the lab. It was a little unneverving.

"Are you always this quiet?" Gibbs asked as they stepped off the elevator and headed for the desks.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "Would you prefer it if I were not?"

Gibbs just looked at Teal'c for a moment before replying. "No, you're fine." And with that he sat down at his desk and got to work.

"You know the chances of us actually finding anything are pretty slim," McGee said. He hadn't really wanted to say it, but he knew they were all thinking it. They had been searching along the road for over two hours now and they still hadn't found anything. Not even a small sign that they were still going in the right direction. He was beginning to think that it was all just a waste of time. And he hated himself for thinking it.

"I know, but I'm not going to give up that easily, not when two of my friends are missing," Daniel replied.

"And we don't leave our people behind," Jack added shooting McGee a glare.

McGee let out a sigh. "Look, I'm not suggesting that we give up and I'm definitely not suggesting that we leave anyone behind. I was just saying what we're all thinking."

"You may be right, McGee, but there is still a chance that we could find something," Ziva stated.

"A small chance."

"And that is all we need."

"Hey, you never know, we could find something anywhere. In fact we could find our next clue in that dumpster over there," Jack said pointing to a dumpster that was almost overflowing with garbage.

"Yeah, somehow I highly doubt that," McGee said.

"Actually, I think Jack might be right," Daniel said.

"What?" Both Jack and McGee asked at the same time. But when they looked over at the dumpster now that they were closer they could see that there was something glinting in the sunlight. And when they got even closer they realized that what they were seeing was a knife stuck in a hole on the front of the dumpster so that it would be noticeable.

"They knew we would follow them," Ziva said as she headed over to the dumpster with the others following.

They reached the dumpster and Jack threw the lid open so they could see inside better. And on the top, almost perfectly placed so that they would slide into the rest of the garbage was a pile of weapons.

"Well, this is Carter's knife," Jack said as he pulled out a standard military issued knife.

"And so is this," Daniel said as he pulled out a nine millimeter. After giving it a cursory glance he handed it over to Jack as well.

"This is Tony's," McGee said as he pulled out Tony's sidearm. It was still in its holster.

"This also belongs to Tony," Ziva said as she pulled out a small pocket knife. "I do not know who the other weapons belong to."

"They're Tony's," Daniel said as he grabbed the knife that was stuck in the front of the dumpster.

"Tony does not carry this many weapons," Ziva said pulling out one more knife and a small gun.

"Actually he usually carries more than this," Daniel replied without looking up from the weapon in his hands.

Jack moved over to see what was so special about the knife. The blade was about five inches long, the handle, though, black was inlaid with silver. It was obvious that the knife was used often, but it was meticulously cleaned and sharpened. There was no doubt that the weapon was well cared for. Leaning over a bit more Jack got a look at the handle. The silver inlay that he had noticed before was in the shape of a tadpole and there were small letters underneath it, but he couldn't quite make out what they were.

"Daniel?" Jack asked putting a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"What?" Daniel asked finally looking up.

"I take it that's important?" Jack indicated the knife.

"Uh, yeah, I gave this to Tony," Daniel replied. He handed the knife to Jack. Jack looked it over. It was a really nice knife, perfect for the kind of work that Daniel and Tony used to do. The blade was of particular interest to Jack. It was sharp and slightly curved at the tip, and one side of it was serrated. Taking a closer look at the handle Jack could now see the letters that were underneath the tadpole, there were only three.

"Tad?" Jack asked looking up at Daniel.

"It's what I used to call him when we were younger," Daniel replied.

"And what's with the tadpole?"

Daniel smiled slightly before bending down and pulling something out from under his right pant leg. Jack raised his eyebrows when he realized it was a knife. When Daniel handed the knife over, Jack's eyebrows climbed even higher when he noticed that it was a perfect match to the one he already held. The only thing that was different was it was inlaid with gold and said 'pole' underneath the tadpole.

"Oh," Jack said. Now everything made sense.

"We should probably head back now, we're not going to find anything else," Daniel said as he took his knife back and tucked it back under his pant leg. Then he also took Tony's back and placed it in an evidence bag that Ziva handed him.

"Are you sure about that?" McGee asked. "I mean we did find this."

"Yeah, but only because it was left here for us to find. Believe me I know what I'm talking about," Daniel replied.

"Really? I don't see how an archeologist would know so much about this kind of stuff," McGee said his irritation at the whole situation coming to the fore.

"I can guarantee that I know more about this than you," Daniel shot back.

"Okay, then do you know who's behind this, or why they're doing it?"

"I think I have a fair idea of why they're doing it, and while I may not know exactly who's behind everything I do know how they operate."

"Alright," Jack said loudly stepping in between the two. "Arguing is not going to help anyone. Let's head back, get this stuff to the lab and then we'll go from there. Okay?"

"Okay," McGee said sounding a little calmer than he had a moment ago. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, me too, Daniel said.

"I don't usually act like this, but it's a little hectic right now."

"Don't mention it," Daniel replied. "We're both worried and angry and taking it out on each other."

"Yeah, hopefully this will all be over soon. Although, it will probably only be a few months before Tony gets himself kidnapped again."

"I know exactly what you mean," Jack said as he slung an arm around McGee's shoulders and began walking back toward where they had left the car.

Daniel rolled his eyes before following. There was no doubt in his mind that Jack had been talking about him. And the grin that Jack shot back at him confirmed it.

McGee hesitated slightly before entering Abby's lab. Jack shared a bemused glance with Daniel before following the young agent through the door. McGee set the box he was carrying on the table before looking up at Abby. She had yet to turn around, but it was obvious that she was not happy. Sharing another glance with Daniel, Jack opened his mouth about to say something when Abby spun slowly around on her heel and fixed them with a glare.

"Um, we found some more stuff," McGee said cautiously.

"I can see that," Abby replied.

Silence fell over the room. Jack wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and looking over at Daniel it seemed like he didn't either. The standoff was broken when Gibbs and Teal'c entered the room.

"What did you find?" Gibbs asked.

"We found Tony's and Major Carter's weapons, but that was it," McGee responded.

"Abby?"

"I didn't find anything on Tony's badge or Carter's dog tags. And I highly doubt I'll find anything else on these either." Abby gestured to the box sitting on the table. "Wow, that's a lot of weapons."

"Tony always liked to be prepared," Daniel said.

"What about that goopy stuff," Jack asked gesturing vaguely with his hand, "did you find anything in that?"

"That's still running," Abby replied.

"Then what is blinking?" Ziva asked pointing to the computer.

"Oh, I guess it finished." Abby turned around and punched a few keys before turning back around, and whatever it was had to be good because she was grinning.

"Well, do you know what the goop is?" McGee asked.

"It doesn't matter what the goop is," Abby answered before spinning back around and typing rapidly on her keyboard.

"How can it not matter what the goop is?" Jack asked. "That's the whole reason the two of them are missing."

"I know that," Abby said, "the goop itself is not the answer. It's what's in the goop that will tell us what we want to know."

"So, you found something?" Daniel asked.

"It appears that there's some kind of dirt mixed into the goop, but the dirt is made up of some weird stuff. So I'm guessing that there has to be a reason for that."

"The dirt in the goop is from wherever Tony and Sam were taken," Daniel said.

"That's what I'm hoping," Abby replied.

"Good work Abs, let me know if anything turns up," Gibbs said before heading out the others following.

"So, do you think we'll find whoever is behind this when we get there?" McGee asked as they all piled into the elevator.

"This guy better hope not," Jack commented thinking about the fact that he was going to have one seriously ticked off jaffa, former black ops soldier, and ex-assassin after him. And that was only one side of things. There was also the rest of Gibbs' team he'd have to deal with. Jack certainly did not envy this guy.

"If he finds out we know where he's hiding, then no, we won't find him. He'll most likely be long gone before we even get there," Daniel said.

The six of them returned to the bull pen and spread out. Ziva, McGee, and Gibbs all went to their respective desks, Daniel planted himself at Tony's desk, Jack dragged a chair over in front of the plasma, and Teal'c remained standing.

Jack wasn't sure how much time had passed since they left Abby's lab, but he was beginning to get restless. Glancing around the room it became obvious that he wasn't the only one. McGee was doing something on the computer, Gibbs was staring down at whatever was on his desk, Ziva was tapping a pencil on a small pad of paper and Daniel was incessantly drumming his fingers on the top of the desk. The only one who didn't appear ready to jump out of their skin was Teal'c, but even he looked a little more tense than usual.

McGee jumped when Daniel suddenly rose from his chair and stalked off. Jack glanced around at the others, noting that all of them were staring after him. With a silent sigh Jack stood and headed after his friend. Daniel hadn't gone far, stopping at the base of the stair case and pacing back and forth.

"Daniel?" Jack asked quietly as he came to a stop a few feet away.

"Jack," Daniel replied only briefly glancing his way.

"We'll find them."

"I know that."

"Then why are you trying to burn a hole through the floor?"

"Because we won't find whoever is behind this, at least not there."

"And how do you know?"

"This guy has had the same training that I have, so there is no doubt in my mind that he won't be anywhere near wherever Sam and Tony are when we find them."

"Okay so we might not get him this time, but we will get him." Jack stepped in front of Daniel and put a hand on his shoulder squeezing gently. "We will get him."

"I know."

"Good. Now are you done with the whole pacing thing, because I was thinking of trying to strike up a card game and it wouldn't be the same without you. Plus I think you freaked McGee out with your sudden departure."

"Yeah, I'm done, but something tells me that your game will have to wait."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, Abby just came running out of the elevator."

"Then we better get back over there."

They returned in time to hear Abby practically yelling that she found them.

"Where?" Gibbs asked.

After being informed of where their people had been taken all of them got busy. Teal'c had taken off to check over the gear they had stowed in their car, Ziva was doing something, McGee had pulled up the map and schematics of the building where they were being held, and Gibbs, Jack and Daniel were all huddled around the plasma studying the layout of the building.

"Well, Daniel this is your specialty, what do you think we should do?" Jack asked.

Daniel glanced at Gibbs, who nodded in return before beginning.

"Okay, it's a one story building, but it's rather large. There are several path ways, several of them leading to the main entrance. There's quite a few that lead to dead ends, which makes no sense. Every hall way has several rooms along them all varying in size. From what McGee says this place is mainly made of metal, so I figure that all the doors to the rooms are most likely metal as well. Now, this place really puts a football field to shame, and I bet you that if Tony found a way to get out of the room he was stuck in he would definitely get lost in this place."

"Any ideas on where they would have put them?" Jack asked.

"They most likely would have put them in one of the rooms in this section, possibly putting them in their own room. It's at the back of the building far from the main entrance, and they'd have to actually know where they're going to be able to find the right hallway to lead them to that entrance."

"What would be the best way to go in?" Gibbs asked.

"That would all depend on if there's anyone there to guard the building, and also if Tony and Sam managed to get out."

"Maybe we should just storm the front of the building," Jack suggested.

"I was just about to suggest that," Daniel commented.

"Sweet, let's go then."

The ride to the warehouse was made in silence, although Daniel was somewhat glad of that because it possibly would have been dangerous talking to Jack while he was driving and trying to keep up with Gibbs' breakneck speed. It was probably that little detail that helped them get there quicker than Daniel thought they would. Without a word the three of them got out of the car and moved around to the trunk. Jack opened it and began distributing their gear giving Daniel and Teal'c their vests before grabbing his own and putting it on. After that he made sure that all three of them had a zat and a P-90. They really had no idea what they would be walking into.

As the three of them moved over to join the NCIS agents, McGee gave them a strange look that could have something to do with the fact that they looked just about ready to launch a small scale war.

"What?" Jack asked noticing the younger man's stare. "We like to be prepared."

"Oh," McGee replied still looking at them strangely.

"We probably shouldn't tell him about the C-4, then," Daniel said quietly leaning over slightly so only Jack and Teal'c would hear him. He tapped the appropriate pocket on his vest before grinning slightly.

"It would be interesting to see how he would react to that though," Jack replied. "Anyway, let's get down to business."

The six of them were just about ready to storm the building, which was seemingly empty, when they noticed movement near the door. Using hand signals Jack and Gibbs led their respective teams toward the door. It was only when they got closer that they realized the people coming out of the building were the very ones that they had come here to rescue.

"Tony," Daniel heard McGee shout. Tony must have heard because he began looking around, but it almost looked as if he couldn't quite focus on his surroundings.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs was the next one to yell Tony's name and he sounded worried. As if that was some sign to Tony that he was safe he stopped and collapsed to the ground. Gibbs rushed over to Tony; Daniel right behind him.

"Boss," Tony managed to get out through his heaving gasps. There was no reason for Tony's breathing to be that difficult, and because it was made Daniel all the more worried for his friend.

"I got you Tony," Gibbs said in response, before turning slightly. "Ziva, get the oxygen tank out of the trunk. McGee,"

"Call an ambulance, get Ducky here and make a call to Dr. Pitt," McGee said before Gibbs could even get that far, his phone was already in his hand.

"Gibbs," Tony said weakly.

"Tony, don't try to talk," Gibbs said back.

Daniel really had no Idea what to do with himself. Just the fact that Tony was having such difficulty breathing was worrying and apparently Gibbs and his team had known about whatever it was so that meant that there was something that happened to Tony that he didn't know about. And if it affected him this badly after the fact then it definitely couldn't have been good. Shifting slightly, Daniel turned and looked over to where Jack and Teal'c were with Sam. She looked a little worse for wear and dirty, but otherwise okay, which was one less thing for him to worry about.

"Gibbs," Tony said once again, and then realizing that he had his boss' attention he continued, "Bonzo."

"What?" Daniel asked quietly as Gibbs placed the oxygen mask over Tony's mouth and nose. Daniel really didn't notice that Ziva had come back.

"Do you know what he meant?" Gibbs asked looking up at him.

"Meant by what?"

"What he meant by Bonzo."

"Umm," Daniel said thinking it over. Honestly it did sound familiar, but he just couldn't place where he'd heard it before. He was also finding it difficult to focus on anything other than the fact that his friend was lying on the ground barely breathing.

"Jackson," Gibbs snapped making Daniel jump slightly. "Tony wouldn't have tried to relay the name if it wasn't important."

Before Daniel even had a chance of responding the ambulance arrived, screeching to a halt and a couple paramedics jumping out and rushing over.

"Can you tell us what happened?" One of them asked.

"He collapsed and is having trouble breathing," McGee answered.

"He may have a concussion," Sam said quietly having come over with Jack and Teal'c once they realized something was going on. Jack was standing there not saying anything the shock that was all over Sam's face reflected in his eyes. Teal'c even seemed a little more stoic than usual.

Ducky pulled up behind the paramedics and made his way over to the group.

"Excuse me," he said to the paramedics, "are you aware of his unique condition?"

'Unique condition?' Daniel thought to himself. 'What unique condition?' He was so focused on that thought, trying to figure out what unique condition Tony could possibly have that he didn't even notice that Tony had already been loaded into the ambulance.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Daniel just catches Gibbs tossing his car keys to Ziva so that he can ride in the ambulance and Ducky heading back toward his car so he can follow.

"Gather whatever evidence you can. Carter should probably head to the hospital to be checked out and Dr. Jackson should come as well," Gibbs ordered before he headed to the ambulance. "And somebody call Abby."

"Daniel, you heard Gibbs. Take Carter and get to the hospital," Jack said as he moved over to Daniel. "Teal'c and I will stay and help them."

Daniel still can't quite focus. Instead his mind keeps taking him back to the fact that Tony could barely breathe. He can hear the others around him and he knows he should say something, but he just can't seem to concentrate enough to do so.

"Dr. Jackson," Ziva said. And for some reason that's what get him.

"Daniel," He replied.

"Are you alright?"

He almost told her that that was a stupid question, but he managed to hold back.

"It's just I've never seen Tony like that. I've seen him pretty bad, but not like that. What's wrong with him?"

"A few years back he got the plague," McGee said in answer. "So he has permanent scarring on his lungs because of it. I'm guessing that there must have been something in the air that irritated them or something."

"The plague," Sam gasped in horror, her eyes widening in shock.

"How did he survive that?" Daniel asked. He knew how deadly the plague had been, it was all throughout history. And it would be just as deadly now even with their advances in medical technology. Just how Tony had survived was a mystery to him.

"Gibbs ordered him not to die," McGee replied.

"He was ordered not to die?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Tony never disobeys one of Gibbs' direct orders," Ziva said. "We really should get to work and Daniel and-,"

"Call me Sam, please," Sam interjected.

"And Sam," Ziva continued with a nod in the other woman's direction, "should get going."

"Right, we should," Daniel said as he headed in the direction of the car. "I want to hear the whole story about that McGee." He called over his should before he and Sam got in the car and headed for the hospital.


End file.
